Something To Fight For
by Renolvr
Summary: His world had been torn apart at the seams, he had disappeared, evaded ShinRa for years. But losing one of the two people he held closest had been a lie. Genesis has a decision, own up for what he caused or ignore it and allow his mistake to be inherited.
1. Wrong

_**A/N: My latest victim of my rewriting craze. I have a soft spot for this fic, not sure why, but I do. I just want to make sure I do a decent job at trying to convey the plot that's in my head :)**_

* * *

"Christi, I'm sorry baby … I'm so sorry."

Arms encased her tightly as everything shook; her Mommy looked scared. Her Mommy was never scared; nothing upset her or frightened her, not even the spiders that hid under her bed at night. Maybe her Mommy was frightened because Daddy wasn't with them. He and uncle Angeal had been told to work somewhere else by their boss; the fat man with the cigar in his mouth. Her Daddy had been supposed to look after her, until his boss had called him.

"Mommy - what's wrong?"

She watched in silence as the woman holding her glanced around, her grey eyes flitting around the cabin as the lights flickered, threatening to go out. The small girl whimpered as all around them shook; her Mommy shuddered and hugged her tighter as the clouds outside the window rushed upwards and the lights flickered once more, before giving up their battle to stay alight.

The arms around her grew tighter, then let go. She looked at her Mommy as she stood up, a reassuring smile on her face as she tightened the girl's seatbelt, then crouched down in-front of her; cupping her chin in her hands as she kissed her daughter's forehead.

"I love you so much sweetie … I'm so sorry baby."

She kept her eyes trained onto her Mommy's face as tears raced down her cheeks, only to be hastily wiped away as everything leaned forward. She was scared now too, her Mommy was upset and scared and her Daddy wasn't there to make things better. She felt tears prick her eyes as her mother's tears set her off.

"I want to go home - I want Daddy - he'll make things better, he'll stop you crying…"

Hands gently tucked her hair behind her ears as the angle of the cabin became steeper and the clouds continued to race upwards.

"Daddy's working baby, he's not gonna be able to fix things this time … Daddy and I love you very much sweetie, you know that, right?"

More tears trickled down her cheeks as her seat shook violently, she wanted to go home and play with her dollies; she wanted to sit on uncle Angeal's shoulders and laugh at cartoons on the television. She didn't want her Mommy to be sad, she didn't want her Mommy to keep saying sorry.

"Christi, baby, please don't cry…C'mere."

Her mother's arms closed around her once more, holding her tighter as the other people in the cabin began to shout and cry; holding her tighter as the clouds finished flying up past her window; holding her tighter as her hair fell forwards as everything leaned forwards. Her Mommy wiped away more tears as she took off the necklaces around her neck, slipping them on over Christi's head as she whispered to her self.

"I'm sorry Genesis."

* * *

_**A/N: Kinda short, sorry :( But I felt that the first incarnation of this fic lacked some background - anyway, thanks for reading :)**_

_**Last Revision: 32/06/11**_


	2. Revelations

_**A/N: Here's the next chapter :)**_

* * *

"Hey Christi - wait up!"

Christi spun on her heels as running footsteps echoed through the corridor, accompanied by her best friend's voice. She smiled as the perky girl double over for a second to catch her breath; Selphie had transferred to Balamb Garden a few months ago, but she had quickly found her place within their dysfunctional group.

Saying the group was dysfunctional was a grave understatement; between Seifer and Squall's constant head-butting, it was a wonder neither of them had been seriously injured so far, though things had been quiet enough between them since they'd both come away from a sparring match with mirroring scars. Such injuries had been a long time coming, but the cuts had healed leaving only scars. They would always be rivals, she accepted that. Christi jumped as arms slid around her waist, before smiling as a familiar voice spoke into her ear.

"Morning Bright-eyes."

He always caught her off guard, and she still failed to expect it. She had known Seifer and the others for as long as she could remember. It had taken her and Seifer a long time to openly admit their feelings for each other; they'd been good friends and hadn't wanted to screw it up if a relationship went wrong. But they had eventually decided to make a go of it, two years later things were still good.

The bright-eyes gag had started off as a derogatory remark from a young boy who had tried to bully her; Seifer hadn't been the nicest of little boys, but he wasn't all that bad, not when you got to know him. Some people in the Garden still held tight to the belief that he hadn't grown up, but she got to see the side of him that few others saw.

"Firstly, Happy Birthday. And secondly, uhh … some people arrived earlier and their chopper had a certain insignia on its door."

Christi felt her eyebrows furrow in confusion as she tried to decode her friend's words. After several seconds of silence, Christi glanced down as Selphie tapped one of the chains around her neck; realisation clicking into place immediately.

"Where are they?"

Selphie kept her voice low as she replied, aware of her friend's intentions. She may have only transferred to Balamb Garden a few months ago, but Irvine and Zell had filled her in on details; Christi had lived in the same orphanage as the others since she'd been three, then they'd all switched to Balamb Garden when they'd become older; all under the guardianship of the Garden's headmaster, Cid Kramer.

The others who had been in the orphanage were all orphans, whereas Christi was and wasn't. The ShinRa Electric Power Company had deployed a recruitment mission to Balamb Garden fifteen years previous. The company had sent several of its staff, one of their top technicians, five lower ranking technicians and two standard ranking soldiers, but something had gone wrong during their flight. All the people on-board had been killed, all apart from a small three-year-old girl.

Cid had contacted the ShinRa headquarters in Midgar and explained what had happened to its President. The President of the company had arrived at the Mercenary School and ordered the bodies of his staff back to Midgar, to their families. However, when confronted with the sole survivor, the man had turned his nose up at the child and refused to return her to her father, stating that the SOLDIER had no longer wished to care for the child. Cid had explained things to Christi when she had been old enough to understand, since then she had wanted to know the true reasons behind why her father had chosen not to come and find her.

"In the lobby."

* * *

"Do you think going to this Mercenary school is even worth it? I mean, I'm all for increasing our numbers and stuff, but their ranks are made up of kids, right? Is it fair to rope kids into this too?"

Angeal glanced towards the owner of the voice, he couldn't deny the logic of Zack's question, but this was their shot in the dark; kids or not, things would undoubtedly get worst if they didn't rope them in. Zack's opinion was biased, he'd only been fourteen when he'd left Gongaga to join SOLDIER..

It had been years since ShinRa had been forced to recruit from Balamb Garden, fifteen to be exact. Angeal remembered the last time only too well. No one wanted to turn around and pull the younger generation into this mess, but with the way things had been going lately, they needed all the resources they could get. Every fight they fought garnered the same results, the Remnants and Sephiroth seemed to be walking away from most confrontations with barely any scratches, while all on the good side of the fight were coming away with barely their lives intact.

What were they supposed to do? Give up and watch the world be torn apart around them? It was no longer solely a concern of theirs, it involved their families too; wives, girlfriends and kids, they all had their own reasons to risk everything. None of them wanted their young children to grow up as orphans, nor did they want them to grow up in a world tormented by beings with Jenova Cells.

"I don't know. It's been fifteen years since ShinRa's last recruitment mission to Balamb, but it's worth a shot. Their recruits are young, but highly trained. We need all the numbers we can get, Zack."

"What we need is someone who can equal Sephiroth."

Silence followed Vincent's words. Their efforts barely held up as matters stood, despite having Cloud, Zack and Angeal, all of which were practically and literally 1st Class rank., they were still coming away worse off. But they had to keep fighting, even if it was a losing battle. Despite the odds being stacked against them, they owed their children a fighting chance at a peaceful future.

Vincent's point was valid, but the only individual capable of matching Sephiroth had walked away from SOLDIER and ShinRa fifteen years ago. Zack glanced up as he voiced what he knew everyone else was thinking.

"Why did Genesis go MIA? I mean, you knew him pretty well Angeal, so what the hell happened to make him walk away from everything?

Angeal sighed and sat back into his seat, listening as the briefing room became congested with the others discussing the possibilities behind Genesis's departure. Years had passed and ShinRa had still failed to locate their missing SOLDIER, and not for lack of trying on their part. Genesis had done well to evade the company's forces for as long as he had. However, his reasons for leaving had not been as simple as the others assumed; the Wutai War, increased missions, conflicts between himself and Sephiroth, none of those had played part to Genesis's departure. At the time, many had assumed his decision to leave had been based upon the company's intended role in the Wutai War, due to his wife being part Wutain. Angeal blinked as a small smile crossed his lips, it had been a long time since Alex and Genesis had crossed his mind.

Since meeting Yuffie, Angeal had come to the conclusion that Wutain females shared several traits; short stature, hyperactive personality, and an affinity for stealing items. Alex had been the same when they'd been kids in Banora, he still missed her more than he would admit, but regardless of how much he regretted the loss of his friend, it was nothing compared to how Genesis had felt. Angeal stood as another mention of the Wutai War met his ears.

"He didn't leave because of the war, you couldn't be anymore wrong. Genesis left because of personal things … ShinRa took away two people he cared about."

Angeal stood as all eyes fell upon him, silence overcame the briefing room once more as they sensed a long explanation in the works. For years, the reason behind Gensis's disappearance had remained a mystery and though the company had attempted to reclaim their 1st Class on several occasions, they had never succeeded in tracking him to a definite location. Angeal sighed as he glanced around the room; none of them knew the real reason why Genesis had defected. Some of the Turks probably had a vague idea, Rufus too, but they hadn't had enough proof to say for certain. Either that, or they hadn't thought it had affected Genesis as much as it had.

"Genesis and I grew up together in Banora, there weren't many kids our age in the village, only one actually, her name was Alex Yamamoto. Her father was Wutain and her mother was a native of Banora. Genesis and I left to join SOLDIER when we were teenagers, a few years later Alex managed to work her way through the ranks of people applying for a place within ShinRa. She trained as a Turk and operated in the field. Veld transferred her to work as a battle technician after two years. She worked as a liaison between the Turks and SOLDIER, that was how Genesis and I found out she was working for ShinRa … Genesis and Alex started going out, one thing led to another and they had a daughter. The President had not been impressed, but there hadn't been much he could do about it, if he had hurt Alex or Christi, Genesis would have caused some serious trouble."

Angeal trailed off as his thoughts flicked back; Alex had been a live wire, it was still tough enough to speak about her in the past tense, even worse when it came to Christi. He had been her god-father, she had been an innocent child, but she had been hurt nonetheless. The SOLDIER sighed as he shook his head, ignoring the prickling sensation of guilt as he continued.

"The President had sent Alex on a recruitment mission to Balamb Garden because of her skills as a Turk and knowledge of the SOLDIER department. On the same day, he ordered Lazard to deploy myself and Genesis on a recon mission to Wutai. Alex had no choice but to bring Christi with her … something went wrong, the chopper went down on the outskirts of the Mercenary school. Everyone was killed. Christi's body was never recovered. Genesis left after Alex was buried. He lost his wife and daughter because of ShinRa, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't have done the same thing in his place."

The briefing room remained stonily silent. They were all parents. They all had a partner they cared deeply about. Even the thought of losing that person was a nightmare, along with the idea of their child being caught up in the crossfire of the war they were fighting. The thought of such a thing was enough to dampen their spirits, they dreaded to think how Genesis had felt when confronted with a nightmare of a reality. No one dared to speak; Angeal had a personal connection to his explanation, none interrupted the silence for fear of saying something wrong. It was Angeal to eventually speak.

"I'll be back soon … keep the preparations going."

* * *

"There are a select number of recruits that I feel will meet the standards you require. However, I will leave the final decision to the recruits themselves. I will give you their names, but it is up to them whether they wish to help or not."

Tseng nodded shortly as Cid finished speaking. The headmaster's conditions were fair, he was the head of the school and had the authority to order the recruits on mission, but he was giving them the opportunity to choose. ShinRa were merely visitors and had to abide by the headmaster's conditions.

"I understand and ShinRa has no objections."

Cid smiled lightly, maybe ShinRa had changed. He shouldn't hold a personal bias against the company, but ShinRa's last visit to the Garden, in the aftermath of its chopper crashing, had left him with a deep distrust towards the company. And possibly Christi's father. Cid had been the person to look after the girl since the crash. He had been the one to sit up with her as she had cried and looked for her Mommy and Daddy to take her home. He had been the person who'd had to explain to her that her Mommy had died and her Daddy wasn't coming to get her.

Cid shook his head; dwelling on the past wasn't a way forward. He took a breath to voice an opinion on timing for when the new President of ShinRa would arrive the following day. He paused as his eyes fell upon someone he had hoped he'd get the chance to speak to first.

"I would like to apologise in advance for whatever she may say."

Tseng felt his eyebrows furrow as he registered Cid's words, then followed the man's gaze, landing upon a small group of teenagers standing nearby. He frowned as one of the teenagers stepped forward - instantly noticing the odd gleam in her eyes.

"You're a Turk. You work for ShinRa, right?"

Tseng nodded his head shallowly as he kept his eyes on the youngster, silently puzzled by her appearance. For the evident glow to be present in her eyes, her immediate family would have to have been exposed to Mako energy, such as a staff member of ShinRa or SOLDIER. But he had no knowledge of any current or past employees having a child enrolled at Balamb Garden.

"That's correct."

Christi stepped forward another few feet and then stopped, falling several feet short of Cid and the Turks. A small smirk tugged on her lips as she pulled out two chains from beneath the neck of her h-shirt. Tarnished, stainless-steel dog-tags hung from the longest chain, each tag had the ShinRa insignia engraved on its back. The second chain was shorter and silver, a locket hung from its shiny chain.

"My Mom worked for ShinRa. She died when I was three. My father still works for ShinRa. I know that the company is under the control of the President's son now. I know the layout of the old building in Midgar … but I just want to know one thing, please. Do you know my Dad?"

Chirsti stepped forward a few more feet and then stopped, several feet still separating her and the suited male. A slight smirk tugging on the corners of her lips as she pulled out two chains from where they had hidden under her hoody. Tarnished stainless-steel dog-tags hung from the longest of the chains, each with the ShinRa insignia engraved on its back. The second chain was a shorter one and silver as opposed to stainless-steel, leading to the conclusion that it had been a present. A locket weighed down the shiny metal.

He could not ignore the sincerity in her voice, but Tseng still found himself taken aback. Most of the older employees of ShinRa - those who had worked for the company during its days in Midgar - were aware of how the last recruitment mission to Balamb Garden had ended. They had all read the report filed by the internal inquiry and they had all accepted the verdict of pilot error and no survivors. If there had been no survivors, who was he looking at? The time line seemed to fit, she appeared to be eighteen or nineteen, if her mother had died when she was three, she would have been three or four when the crash happened."

"What is your full name?"

"Christine Rhapsodos. My Mom's name was Alex. My Dad's name was Genesis, he worked under SOLDIER."

A new hatred for the old President quickly formed in the pit of Tseng's stomach; Genesis had been led to believe that both his wife and daughter had died, but not all had been lost. His little girl had been here the whole time. She had been hidden because of one man's lies. Tseng had his own little girl, San, he would do anything to protect her. In the past he may have sided with the President's logic, but not now. The Turk sighed as he met the girl's eyes.

"I think there are a few things you should know, Christine."

* * *

"Happy Birthday, Christi."

Genesis sighed as he bend down, placing a birthday card and some flowers on the grave of his wife. They weren't for Alex, but it was the closest thing to a grave that he had for their daughter. It seemed so long ago now, but the pain hadn't lessened. He'd heard that time healed wounds, it was a lie. It didn't heal wounds. It didn't even numb the agony, it amplified it. He could still recall holding Christ that morning as she'd looked at the chopper with awe, he still remembered her slight weight in his arms.

"If someone had told me that day, that I would be standing here for my daughter's eighteenth birthday, I would've hurt them … I guess things don't always go to plan."

The ex-SOLDIER straightened himself slowly as he continued to stare at the headstone, his trademark red coat flapping in the slight breeze. His eyes shifted and his frame stiffened as a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, a tense few seconds passed before Genesis relaxed; Sephiroth and the Remnants would have attacked by now.

"You caught me, Angeal."

A smirk found its way to the 1st Class's lips as he glanced at his friend's back. It had been an utter gamble in going to the old graveyard. He'd had no guarantee that Genesis would be there, but it looked as if his gut feeling had been correct.

"You haven't rusted. It's been a long time, Genesis."

Angeal remained silent as he stood alongside his friend, both men lost in their own thoughts as they looked down at Alex's grave; the three of them had been best friends in their younger years. Alex and Genesis had usually been the ones at each other's throats, while he'd played referee.

"How did you know I'd be here?"

"Lucky guess … eighteen today, right?"

Genesis turned to face his friend, knowing there was something other than just a visit on his mind. He was looking for something, people generally were.

"Cut the formalities, Angeal."

A mere nod met him as a response, they both knew each other too well to fall for facades. Angeal took a breath as he tried to mentally prepare how to approach the subject. There was no easy way around this matter, it was easier to lay the facts out.

"Sephiroth and the Remnants are growing stronger. Even with SOLDIER, ShinRa and AVALANCHE, they are walking away from fights unscathed. We need your help-"

"It doesn't concern me."

Angeal frowned as Genesis turned his back and tried to walk away. He'd walked away before and Angeal hadn't stopped him, but things were different this time. He wasn't allowed to ignore it all the second time around, there was too much at stake.

"Yes it does. Sephiroth and his allies are a threat to this whole planet. It concerns everyone on it. It's time to stand and fight Genesis. Everyone is leaving in an hour for Balamb Garden for recruiting. If you still have your honour, you'll know where to find us."

Genesis froze; Balamb Garden. Was this Angeal's idea of irony? If so, his old friend had certainly developed a rather black sense of humour in the years that had passed since they'd last spoken. Nobody had helped him when his world had come crashing down around him. They had ordered him to be back in work for a mission on Monday. Why should he help a world that had nothing left for him?

"Stand and fight - I have nothing to fight for."

Angeal shook his head as he began to walk away, he had said all he'd needed to say, the rest was up to Genesis. He'd make the right decision once he thought about it clearly. But just in case …

"You may not be aware of this, but the people fighting him right now - they all have families and kids. Even Rufus ShinRa has a young son, he lost his wife to the Remnants. They're outmatched and they know it, but they don't want their kids to grow up in this world. They know if they walk away, the problem will follow them … don't turn your back on the world a second time, Genesis."

Genesis stood still as his friend walked away … Angeal always had been good at playing the guilt card. He didn't want to take the man's words to heart, things were different for him; no one had cared when his family had been ripped away. Why should he care if others were in danger of going through the same thing? He shouldn't care … but he did. He wasn't heartless, as much as he tried to be, he couldn't willingly wish that on someone else.

His morals and pride wouldn't allow him to, his honour wouldn't. Genesis groaned as he rolled his eyes towards the clouds above; Angeal had known exactly what buttons to push.

* * *

_**A/N: I little change from its first incarnation, but it won't have any major influences on the overall plot :)**_

_**Last Revision: 27/06/11**_


	3. Decisions

**_A/N: Hiya huns! Just a quick note, I've split this chapter into two, it seems to work better._**

* * *

Tseng watched silently as the girl walked past him and took a seat opposite the headmaster's seat. It was another minute or two before Cid closed the door of his office and joined them, having been speaking to the group of youths who had been standing with the girl. He could only assume they had wished to stay with their friend.

She didn't seem all that much out of place or uncomfortable with being in the same room as himself and the others. Several other Turks had arrived with him, all standing by silently. He knew this was bothering Cissnei, she was a good Turk - no doubts there - but anything involving kids or youngsters seemed to bother her somewhat. Rod was alright, he wouldn't put his foot in it - hopefully - the young man had finally started taking his job seriously since things had taken a bad turn in regards to the Remnants.

Tseng inclined his head as an idea entered his head. If the girl was who he thought she was, then she should be able to answer him. Alex had been half Wutain and had been bi-lingual. Christine had only been three when the crash had happened, but to the best of his knowledge, the young girl had also picked up the language, something that had stumped Genesis on several occasions, much to the Alex's enjoyment.

_"Tell me what you remember."_

Christi looked up from where she had been idly tugging at the sleeve of her hoody. She squinted as he looked at the Turk, taking a moment to process the string of words he had spoken. They were familiar, she didn't know how, but she knew what the Turk was saying. She took a breath as she began speaking slowly, relating her recollection back to the Turk in the same language he had spoken, picking her words carefully as she tried to work her way around some verbs she couldn't remember.

_"Everything shook...Mom got up and put me in her seat, then tied the seat belt...she was crying but tried to hide it...lights flickered. I wanted Dad or Angeal...then it was cold and quiet, Mom wouldn't wake up."_

Some of the verb conjugations were off, but it was evident to see the girl had been fluent at one stage, years of no use had rusted her ability to speak the language, but she was still undoubtedly more adept with the language than many people studying it were. Coupled with her evident resemblance to the SOLDIER, capability of speaking Wutai and recollection of the crash, Tseng was beyond doubt of who the girl was. Rufus, Lazard, Angeal and the rest were due to arrive early in the morning, which gave a somewhat silver lining to Christine's revelation. He may not know where her father was, but at least she would be able to see her godfather, it wasn't the same, but Genesis was somewhat of a lost cause at this stage.

"We, meaning the company employees, were told through an internal inquiry that there were no survivors of the crash. Your father was told that your mother died while your body had been destroyed by the impact. He never returned to the company after your mother was buried, he had been MIA since. ShinRa have attempted to locate him, but to no avail. Angeal is arriving here tomorrow."

Cid shook his head, somewhat disbelievingly. He found it hard to understand why someone would willingly lie to both sides of the fence for no evident reason. Christi looked confused, she wasn't usually this quiet. She wasn't usually quiet full stop, the opposite in fact. She had been a handful as a child and twice as bad as a teenager, to the chagrin of several instructors at the Garden. But she was the one person who they knew would not be expelled. Cid was her guardian. He did his best not to favour her or take preference, but he also knew he had an undeniable soft spot for her.

"I spoke to the President. He informed me that her father not longer wished to have any ties with her."

And there it was, the animosity and tinge of personal bias. Cid had not voiced his thoughts, but it didn't take a genius to read them. He held some blame towards Genesis. Though he had never been on friendly terms with the SOLDIER, Tseng did not agree with it. He had been in the President's office when the news had been broken to the SOLDIER. Tseng found himself surprised it had taken this long for it to surface. He didn't blame the headmaster or anyone in for holding their grudges against ShinRa. However, what he did have a small problem with was how they held their grudges against the people who were not to blame. Rufus was now the President; by being so he was doing all he could to correct the wrongs his father had left. That was not an easy job for anyone. He and the other Turks were doing the same, but behind the scenes. The old President ShinRa had done horrible deeds, some of which were only coming to light lately, but that was no one else's fault but the man's.

"You hold your opinion, which is your right. I hold my own, but do no assume things you do not know. Not unless you have seen both sides of the story."

"You two can argue out your differences, I'm leaving."

Christi looked at both men pointedly as she stood from her chair, knocking it backwards as she turned to walk away. Why did people always have to end up arguing over something or other? Was it too much to ask for just a little bit of civility? She didn't want to sound selfish, but could they not maybe consider how she felt? She had lived here for fifteen years, all because some man had seen fit to lie to both Cid and her father. She had grown up thinking he had simply not wanted her anymore, had no longer wished to look after her. That had confused her to endless lengths, she didn't remember much from before the crash, but she knew her parents had loved her. She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to recall his face, she knew she would know him if she saw him, but it still evaded her. All that remained of him in her memories was his voice and his laughter.

"Christi, wait."

She shrugged her shoulders as she turned, meeting the gaze of the man who had raised her. Wait for what? More answers, something told her that was out of the question. A quick thought crossed her mind as she randomly asked herself what Angeal looked like now.

"For what, Cid? More lies. It doesn't even matter at this stage, I wanted to know why and I've found out. I may not like it, but I got what was coming. My Dad is out there somewhere, he thinks I'm dead. He probably has a new family now, probably moved on. I doubt I'm a second thought in his head..."

That's where she was wrong. Tseng shook his head slowly as the teenager looked to him. He understood her point of view, he understood why she was angry, but she didn't understand the effect of Alex's and her supposed death had had on Genesis. Few did. Angeal knew, so did anyone who had been close to the SODLIER and Alex, which had had been few and far between also. Genesis had never been one to openly allow his emotions to rule his judgement on matters. He had never been on to allow his personal bias to cloud his view. He had never been on to allow his personal life to have anything to do with ShinRa, but that had changed and had become inevitable when both of them had been under the company's employment. Tseng had watched as the President had coldly informed the SOLDIER of the Balamb Incident. He had watched as Genesis had refused to lose face before the man, how he had waited until stepping out on to the SOLDIER floor before allowing the truth - or what he had been led to believe was the truth - to sink in. Anyone else would have been instantly sanctioned for the damage that had been caused to the simulation room and he would have been had it not been for Sephiroth and Angeal pulling ranks with the force and covering up.

"That is one thing I can promise you, you will never be and have never been a second thought in his head. You were always the first. I am sorry; it does not count for much, but just know that. ShinRa are still attempting to find him, even more so now because of Sephiroth and the Remnants, if we do, then you will be the first to know."

* * *

"Where did you go?"

Angeal glanced up as he walked through the doors of the training hall, instantly recognising Zack's ever questioning tone. Did he tell the rest who he had been speaking to and give them a chance at reclaiming the MIA SOLDIER, or did he over look his honour as a SOLDIER to preserve his one as a friend? He doubted very much Genesis would appreciate ShinRa knowing he had been so close. But he had also meant what he had said, it involved everyone, not just a select few. Though he hadn't exactly been fair either, showing up randomly, asking for his help and throwing Balamb straight into the conversation without really thinking it through properly. Now that he looked back, he realised it had been somewhat cruel. They had been standing in front of Alex's grave and all…

"Guilt's gotten to you too?"

He shouldn't smirk, he knew that, but at least he knew he wasn't the only prone to guilt. Genesis cocked his head to the right in a questioning manner as Angeal looked back over his shoulder, an apologetic look upon his face. He had been right, regardless of timing and location. Out of the three of them - Angeal, himself and Sephiroth - Angeal had always been the one with a more prevalent conscience.

"Yeah, I stepped a line, I apologise. You're coming?"

"Apparently."

Genesis glanced around quickly, people really didn't realise how rude it was to stare. The children could be excused, they were kids and didn't know any better…Zack was excused on the same basis. But the rest were just being ignorant. Okay, they hadn't exactly expected his arrival, which made another point - if they were all so worried about Sephiroth and the three twerps - then they were sure as hell doing a bad job at protecting themselves. Sure, they were at the ShinRa headquarters, but that was no protection or strong base if they all just sat around and hoped to Minerva Sephiroth wouldn't have the balls to attack the place directly.

"That's brilliant. Bring your families here, bring your kids here, but whatever you do, don't consider the possibility of this place being a target. And don't look at me like that, I don't need your pity."

Tifa clamped her mouth shut involuntarily as the SOLDIER passed her, somewhat taken aback by his directness. She hadn't been pitying him, she had simply been thinking about what Angeal had said, about the man's reasons for leaving, his wife and daughter and, oh god she had been pitying him. He didn't strike her as the type of man who wanted to be pitied or even looked at let alone spoken to regarding the past. But surely he knew that ignoring what had happened would only make things worse on himself, that admitting and speaking about them would help…why was she even assuming what he thought? She didn't know him, she wouldn't appreciate it if the SOLDIER returned the favour.

Rufus stood as the red-coated SOLDIER stopped several feet from him. Taking care not to waken his sleeping son as he did so, Genesis' look said it all, but he didn't care. Yeah, he had a kid, so what? He had a son, he had a company to run and several operations under that company, all of which were starting to wear thin on him at this stage, but it didn't matter. Sephiroth had to be stopped and the Remnants had to burn in hell, he didn't care if his opinion was biased or not. They had taken away the woman he'd cared about, taken away Charlie's mother.

"I know why you left, had always guessed that had been the reason."

"Heard your father was killed?"

"Mmm, pity it hadn't been sooner."

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading!**_


	4. Arrivals

**_A/N: I would have had this up a few nights ago, only my internet was being a pain, cutting out every ten minutes and then dying altogether until this morning. It just really doesn't like me lately, then I had exams to study for, but something good came out of them - the latter half of this chapter ended up as a four and half page short story in my exam :P_**

* * *

"You're being quiet."

Christi cursed under her breath as she jumped, having been startled by her boyfriend's statement. He had a habit of appearing out of nowhere, especially when she wasn't paying attention or was lost in her own thoughts. It was still early; she was allowed to be a bit slow. She hadn't really been with it since yesterday, bad way to end a birthday. She hadn't even told Selphie what had happened and she told the Trabia-native everything. She hadn't really spoken to anyone last night, only telling Seifer out of stubborn frustration as he had hammered on her dorm door.

"It's early."

Now it was her turn to be stubborn. Seifer nodded as he leaned sideways, resting against the doorframe of her bedroom. Okay, she had a right to be ticked off, or upset, or whichever she was. However, being cold to everyone else going to make it better. Though he had to admit; if he had found out after fifteen years that one of his parents was still around unaware of his existence, he would undoubtedly be angry, possibly hurt, though the latter of which he would never admit to.

But Christi was an odd one, she tried to keep her emotions and thoughts personal to an extreme extent, the only people she tended to be open with were himself and Selphie. If he couldn't get her to talk then he asked Selphie to try. Her and bottling up things did not go hand in hand, they had all figured that out a few years ago. Kids were cruel, he had been one of them, a lot said he hadn't changed over the years but personally speaking he knew in himself he had. His derogatory comment of Bright eyes had been the least of the abuse Christi had received as a child. The majority of the other kids - mostly boys - had personally taken upon themselves to make sure she knew just how different she was. And why? Because her eyes were different?

He had found it more intriguing than anything else; teasing her had been his way of approaching it. There had never been much malice in his teasing though - not towards her anyhow - but he had always known when he'd crossed a line and had stopped. The others hadn't though. The other kids had never given it a rest, not until Christi had given them a reason to.

"You expect me to believe that?"

Christi groaned as she tried to grab her phone, accidentally knocking it from her bedside locker and sending it skidding across the carpeted floor. Why couldn't everything just stop? Just stop and back up for a minute, she wanted to be left alone for a while, everyone else confused her when they tried to understand or help. Now she couldn't find her phone - great - that's all she needed. The eighteen-year-old cursed under her breath as she sent one of her worn sneakers out past Seifer and into the shared living space by means of a vicious kick.

Seifer rolled his eyes as he stepped aside, allowing his irked girlfriend to pass - smirking as he caught wind of several choice curses - he watched with some bemusement as Christi continued to tear the living area apart in search of her elusive phone, which was currently lying alongside his foot.

Every other cadet at Balamb was bunked with another cadet, all apart from Christi. She had been at one stage, a few times in fact. Too many fights had been reported between her and whoever had been in the other bedroom. Though many of the instructors argued with it, Cid had decided it was easier to leave the other bedroom vacant as opposed to dealing with complaints and sanctions. The gunblade specialist watched for another minute or so before bending down and picking up the scratched a silver flip-phone.

"Christi?"

"…"

"Christi?"

"…"

"Christi?"

Christi snapped her head around as the last of her patience evaporated. Did she have to spell it out? She wanted to be left alone. She wanted everyone to ignore her for a while, to just leave her alone with her own thoughts. Angeal would be here - judging by a quick glance to the clock on the wall - any minute. Would he still remember her? Would he still care about who she was? She knew what he looked like, she had seen his profile when she had been in the ShinRa databanks a few weeks ago, granted she should not have been in them and almost hadn't been able to get into them, ShinRa did not slack on their system defences but she had eventually found a way around the multiple firewalls. She had only done so to prove a point to herself, she hadn't planned on getting into any of the sensitive files, Angeal's name had just been there; temptation and curiosity had gotten the better of her. Her Dad's had been there too, but it had been impossible to get into. She had tried all the same, only to met by a loop file containing a worm virus - Selphie had given her a hand to isolate the virus and lock it - preventing it from spreading to the Garden's mainframe system.

"What?! Can't everyone just leave me alone?!"

"Actually, I was just gonna give you your phone back, but now you're not getting it."

Great, now he was going to be a jerk about it. She really didn't have the head to deal with that right now. She had barely slept. Moreover, when she had eventually drifted off, she'd rolled over and fallen out of her bed. But now she was feeling guilty, he'd just been standing there and watching silently, he hadn't deserved that.

"Look, sorry…I'm just tired and nervous."

Seifer smirked as he tossed the phone to her. He knew that, he'd just wanted her to admit that to herself too. Now he could get to the real point of why he'd dropped by so early. He'd been to talk to Cid - actually Cid had asked to speak to him - the topic of their conversation had been about who's names had been given to the Turks and were to be considered for ShinRa. As well as the ins and outs of this recruitment thing. It was not to be a permanent fixture, if Balamb Garden required the SeeD cadets to return, then there would be no alternative; they would immediately return to the Garden. The cadets were primarily under Balamb Garden's control; ShinRa would be their secondary superiors.

"Forget it. Just quit stressing out Christi, it's not going to help. We're due at the assembly hall soon, Cid's told me more about this deal, I'll tell you on the way."

Christi nodded as she grabbed the two chains from her bedside locker, slipping them on over her head as she clipped part of her hair back. She had had longer hair up until a few weeks ago, but she had been fed up with always tying it back and straightening it, so she'd allowed Selphie to cut it. A brave decision for anyone to make, but it had been fun to see what style Selphie could come up with. Pretty much all of her lovely long locks were gone now, replaced by short reddish-chestnut hair, cut short enough to style spikey at the back with a long front, which swept over one of glowing slate-grey eyes.

"Where're Raijin and Fujin?"

"ShinRa have arrived, they've gone ahead to meet them and show them where the assembly hall is."

* * *

He had lost count of how many hours had slowly dragged by since the airship had departed from Edge; the Shera was an impressive airship by any standards. As was the amount of staff that it hid within its' bowels. All adorned with the same red cap and pale uniform he had come to recognise as The World Regenesis Organisation. He had tried to keep track of the time, but there had been too many distractions, such as crying infants, idiotic employees, blue streaks from the pilot, random bursts of music from an ipod turned up to it's volume's limits, along with a rather inquisitive young girl.

Genesis ignored several odd looks as he passed some more of the WRO troops; following the rest of the gang as they began idly chatting amongst themselves while walking towards entrance-like gates. The place seemed large enough; they had already passed several training fields while arriving, even landing in one. Though that had been odd, he wasn't sure if that was the right way to put it, but words pretty much failed at this stage. Despite himself, he couldn't help but silently wonder which battlefield the last ShinRa recruitment mission had met its end in.

Angeal glanced sideways as they passed the booth alongside the electronic entrance gates - passively taking note of the man behind the glass remarking about how long he had resided at the Garden - silently watching his old friend walking several feet behind him and the rest of the gang. He hadn't said all that much since they had spoken at the graveyard before leaving, mostly keeping silently to himself while onboard the Shera and answering a few of Marlene's questions. That had made him smile though, Genesis had answered the ten-year-old's questions carefully and honestly, not minding her inquisitive nature in the slightest, Christi had been the same; always wanting to know how stuff worked.

"You're being quiet."

"It's early."

Early mornings never bothered him, but that had been a stupid statement, regardless of his past with Angeal or not, it was stupid and pointing at the obvious. Of course, he was being silent; it didn't take a genius to figure out why. Or to realize the subject was better left unmentioned. He wasn't speaking about it, so they should take that as a hint not to mention it. The SOLDIER just shook his head as he chose to look ahead instead of answering Angeal's statement of the obvious. Two youths immediately caught his attention; he could only assume by their similar attire that they were students of the Garden.

He watched as they spoke with Rufus before continuing towards that school's front gates. Curiosity took hold of the SOLDIER as he glimpsed an eye patch covering the girl's left eye, she looked no older than eighteen or nineteen, what could she have been involved in which had led to an injury such as that? He idly wondered if it were a good or bad sign that she sported it, it meant she had seen a battle no doubt, but also that she had been seriously injured. The other student was taller, with darker skin and a broad frame. If these two were two of the cadets up for recruitment, then maybe it had been worth their while coming here.

Genesis glanced around once more as they finally entered the impressive school; the first thing that struck him was how the lobby resembled a rather large fountain. Several other students stood at a terminal a few feet ahead of them, they looked younger than the two who were accompanying them. Was there an age restriction on people wishing to train at the Mercenary school? If so, then what was the minimal and maximum ages allowed?

More walking, an elevator, students of differing ages all silently watching as the group of strangers passed them and their classrooms. Genesis had to hand it to whoever had designed the building; it was well laid out, large and apparently contained its own training centre with actual monsters, not simply simulations as had been with SOLDIER. The students appeared well behaved, though that was probably due to them having received warnings and lectures about acting maturely in front of visitors to the Garden.

Angeal looked back again, watching the other SOLDIER carefully despite himself. He had changed. Granted, Genesis had never been one for conversations or meaningless chatter, but he had never been silent either. He'd always had a underlying air of smugness, though he'd had that as far back as when they'd been kids in Banora, he'd come from a well off family, he'd been raised to be that way. Along with small smart comments, ones that you could over look but bugged you latter. Like a time bomb, they wouldn't bother you when he'd said them, but come a few hours and the comment would be constantly replaying itself in your head, causing you to become angered at yourself for not copping it earlier. However, that was all gone now, replaced by a silent observer. Angeal tore his gaze away as shouting tore through the relative silence of the hall; he looked ahead and saw an older man dressed in a tan-hued suit along with a recruit.

"You are well aware of the rules at this stage; magic is prohibited within the Garden unless you are in the training centre!"

Christi bit her tongue, trying her utmost not to get into more trouble. She hadn't used magic, that had been some of the younger cadets messing about, Seifer had yelled at them and given them detentions, she had just been standing alongside where they'd been messing with some fire magic and now she was getting the blame from Instructor Aki for no reason other than the man hated her. Seifer had already tried to intervene, but Aki would not listen.

More shouting in her face, the man could certainly do with a breath mint or something, if he had bothered to look he would have realized it hadn't been her. The spell cast was a basic Fire spell, the first level; her usual level was Firaga, level three. Great, now there were people watching, judging by their black suits they were Turks, she also recognized Rufus ShinRa amidst the numerous bodies.

"It wasn't me. It was two of the younger cadets, and the spell was basic Fire spell, level one. I don't use level one, I use Firaga, sir."

More shouting, that hadn't exactly worked in her favour. Despite how calm she had made herself sound, it was an honest answer and it had been spoken lowly so as she did not make a scene in front of the Garden's visitors. She knew if she did, it would only bite her in the ass and not Aki. But the man did not seem to have a problem with making a scene. He was much more concerned with acting the big man in front of ShinRa personnel instead, regardless of whether or not he was correct in doing so.

"I didn't do anything, you're just too far up your own ass to see that, they don't care how much you shout at me, you're trying so hard to impress and no one really gives a damn."

Seifer groaned as he hid his face in his hand, way to go Christi. In addition, in front of ShinRa and all, now it was going to turn around on him. He was standing there, he'd heard her words and he was head of the Disciplinary Committee. Aki was glaring at him, okay; truthfully speaking the Instructor was in need of a major ego check, but it wasn't his place nor Christi's to say so. Now Christi was glaring at him, what was he supposed to do? Side with her and get punished himself too or side with him and get the silent treatment from her for the rest of the day?

"Problem?"

Christi looked away from Seifer as a new voice entered the argument. A young man smiled and nodded as he met her gaze, she suddenly felt sick as she caught sight of his mako eyes; he was a SOLDIER too. A first class judging by his uniform. If he was a SOLDIER, then he knew what caused the mako glow in his eyes and would probably recognize hers. She didn't want that, she didn't want to see Angeal anymore. He had his life now, and she was here. He thought she was dead too, she didn't want to just pop back up into existence, and what if he didn't remember her? What if he did and still didn't want anything to do with her?

"I would appreciate it if you would not interfere with a Garden matter."

Zack shrugged as the older man directed his words towards him, an air of arrogance about them. Fair enough, but was it really that bad that he had to shout in the girl's face, in the middle of a corridor, while they were all watching? Personally, he reckoned the girl had been right with her words. The Instructor did have his head up his own butt to a painful degree.

"Kay, just back off the kid. She didn't do anything wrong -"

The SOLDIER's words were cut short as someone cut across him, evidently trying to placate the situation without starting another argument. Angeal had been the first to notice the shouting Instructor and the girl. And also, the first to notice Zack deciding to get involved, not a smart decision when they were guests and given the happenings of ShinRa's last recruitment mission. They weren't supposed to be crossing any lines, they were guests. Having said that, he felt the Instructor was being unfair towards the girl, she had answered and though he did not claim to be a master at judging characters, she had been truthful.

The 1st Class watched the girl for a moment or two, taking note of her features and her eyes, it could have been a trick of the light, but he could have sworn he had seen the familiar glow of mako in them, but what intrigued him more was the slight angle of her eyes, it probably went unnoticed by others, but there was an angle to the outside of her eyes, not enough to be certain, but he was almost willing to ask if one of her parents or possibly grandparents had been of Wutain descent.

"We don't know your students, we don't mean to intrude. However, I think what my colleague was trying to say was; you have no proof, other than your own opinion, that this girl has broken any rules. Of which seems to be biased in my view. You did not see her using magic, therefore there is no ground to assume such and no ground to issue a sanction."

Christi watched as Aki bit down hard on his tongue and nodded, walking away despite the fact he most certainly did not agree. Maybe Cid had given the staff lectures about how to act while ShinRa were here too? His voice was the same as she had remembered it, she couldn't remember his face apart from the profile picture, she couldn't remember most faces from before the crash, only peoples' voices and how they had been to be around. But there he was, looking at her with questions hidden in his eyes. She'd only been three the last time they had been face to face, that was fifteen years ago, she probably looked nothing like she had back then. She didn't want to be in this situation, she didn't like it.

"Thank you, c'mon, there's Raijin and Fujin."

Seifer frowned as Christi thanked the man and almost dragged him into the assembly hall behind her. She was seriously confusing him today. The eighteen year old looked back over his shoulder as he hit off one of the people who had been with the ShinRa President, shouting an apology as Christi yanked him on towards the bleachers and other seated cadets.

"Eh, sorry!"

Genesis blinked as a pair of students shot past him, the girl of the duo literally dragging the taller male behind her. Maybe he had been wrong about how well behaved and mature the Garden's SeeD cadets were. The bleachers were half-full, apparently the Headmaster of the Garden had only recommended those he saw fit for the recruitment, Angeal had filled him in on the workings of the recruitment, how the final decision would be left to the students themselves as opposed to ShinRa or their Headmaster. That seemed fair in his opinion, the recruits were still youngsters, they deserved a say in what path their lives took.

Rufus had separated from the group after Angeal and Zack had stuck their noses where they hadn't been welcome. A great move to make straight after arriving. Tseng had wished to speak to the CEO privately while shooting him a rather odd look. He'd been getting odd looks since yesterday though, so that was no surprise. They would go ahead with the list of names, see how many cadets were willing to transfer their abilities and leave tomorrow. Genesis sighed as he looked out one of the large windows, he was considering speaking to the Garden's Headmaster but wasn't too sure yet, he wanted to know which battlefield Alex and Christi had died in.

"What was going on in the corridor?"

Angeal looked up from the clipboard in his hands, having been idly leafing through a list of Cadet names along with their Headmaster's and Instructors' personal assessments of them. Taking a second or two to cop onto what the other SOLDIER was actually on about; the instructor and the two youths.

"An Instructor was lecturing a female cadet, she and the guy with her had seen younger cadets using magic - which is apparently prohibited inside the Garden - the girl was getting the blame, she insisted the spell wasn't her level and the Instructor was pushing his weight around."

"Zell don't! Give them back, cop on!"

Both Genesis and Angeal looked up as a girl's angered shout echoed around the hall, accompanied by the sound of something hitting and skidding lightly across the floor before them, immediately followed by more angered shouts and possible death threats. Genesis shook his head as he stepped forward to pick up what looked like the girl's necklaces from the floor, these were just kids and now they were messing around, what help could they be against Sephiroth and the Remnants? The SOLDIER glanced back over his shoulder as he gripped the chains.

"Is there a _**Zell**_ on our list?"

A few moments of relative silence and turning pages before Angeal nodded. That was brilliant, one of the SeeD cadets deemed capable enough in combat to transfer to ShinRa for a while was mature enough to steal a girl's necklaces and toss them down onto the floor away from her…this was going to be a really long day. Genesis simply shook his head as he looked back around to the two chains now in his hand, one of the chains was longer and tarnished, the other shorter and shiny. He allowed his eyes to scan further down the chains to the charms that weighed them down only to feel his stomach drop sickeningly…he knew the small heart-shaped locket, he had bought it.

The dog tags only served to prove it further. They were Alex's. What the hell was one of the students in the Garden doing going around wearing them, where did they think they had the right to? Hadn't she seen that they had obviously belonged to someone? Okay, fair enough, if she had found them in the battlefield, but she should have given them to the Garden's headmaster, there was a name on them and a date of birth, and they belonged to someone. Not her. They were Alex's; she had no right to walk around wearing them!

"Genesis, are you alr-"

"Who was wearing these?"

"See you - you're nothing but a jerk - I hope you know that chicken-wuss!"

Zell took a breath to defend himself but quickly backed down as both Seifer and Squall shot him cold glares. He had only been teasing, he had not meant for Christi to take it so seriously, but they'd all been sitting there with serious looks on their faces and silent, he didn't like when things were like that, he preferred for something to be happening. They were all in serious need of a laugh, especially Squall; he had a frown permanently fixed onto his face lately. Then again, it wasn't just lately, it was pretty much permanent full stop.

Christi continued to curse foully under her breath as she descended the bleachers, almost going down the last few on her butt due to some idiot spilling a drink - which was another stupid rule; no food or drinks inside halls or classrooms - knowing her luck Aki would pop up and put the blame on her again. Moreover, why hadn't Seifer defended her - he had been there - he was a chicken-wuss too! Stupid Zell, how immature did he have to be?

She didn't want to go down here, she didn't want Angeal to stare at her like he had already - mind you, Zell wasn't to know that - but that didn't matter, the blond still shouldn't have thrown her chains away from her, he knew what they meant to her. Christi groaned mentally as she reached the bottom of the bleachers; the guy Seifer had almost knocked over had her chains. And everyone was suddenly watching, wondering why she had left her seat in the first place, they could ask Zell why and if she was going to get into trouble for doing so, then Zell could take the rap for that too.

Seifer frowned as he noticed how long Christi was taking to retrieve her chains, a quick glance around and he spotted her standing across from someone, one of the SOLDIERs, the guy he had almost knocked over. It had been an accident, he'd yelled back sorry - of which was a rather big thing for him to do - so why was he speaking to Christi? Another second or two and protectiveness had gotten the better of him; Seifer stood as began descending the bleachers, but not before accidentally stepping on Zell's foot - idiot - if Christi was in trouble it was his fault.

Angeal was standing a few feet behind the man, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her chains…he knew they had been her Mom's. Now she felt nervous again, sick even. She didn't want this anymore, Angeal had been told she'd died fifteen years ago, he had probably moved on now, what right did she have to walk back into his life, even if she wanted to? It didn't matter what she wanted, she had wanted answers and had gotten them, though they hadn't exactly helped matters.

She didn't like this, she felt too closed in with everyone watching her and now Tseng had walked in with the Turks that had been with him, along with Rufus ShinRa. She didn't like being closed in, she couldn't stand it. Be it lots of people watching her or simply in a small room or a room with the door closed, she didn't do those situations.

"Where did you find these?"

His voice sounded familiar to her. However, no face came to mind. If he was, a SOLDIER - which was evident by his uniform - then maybe she had met him before the crash; maybe he had known her parents? Either way, if she had met him, his face was gone from her memories. As was most faces. The last thing she remembered before everything at the Garden was the plane crash - kinda, but not in great detail - along with some people's voices and names, but that was all.

"Th-They're mine."

Genesis watched the girl closely, she seemed familiar for some reason, and a small nagging in the back of his mind, but that was beside the point. They were not hers. Far from it, so why did she lie? Why would she? Why did she look familiar, that was bugging him now. However, this was the first time he had been to Balamb Garden; he would not have seen her before. The majority of the Garden's cadets were orphans of transfers, there was no possible way he could have seen or met her before.

Angeal stepped forward as he noticed the Headmaster enter the hall. The could really do without crossing a line with him. Zack had already led them onto thin ice by interfering between cadets and Instructors, something that did not particularly surprise the SOLDIER. But anyone who walked in now saw a shaken SeeD recruit and a SOLDIER standing before her, refusing to let a question go…the girl ad probably found them in one of the battlefields and taken a fancy to the two chains. She wasn't to know who they had belonged to, and while he understood Genesis' evident shock and displeasure, he had to leave it go for now.

"Genesis, she didn't know…"

Christi felt her stomach lurch as she picked up on one of Angeal's words - _**Genesis**_ - but that wasn't possible. Tseng had said so last night. Tseng had explained it…the teenager shook her head as she took several unsure steps backwards, placing her hand over her mouth as bile burned the back of her throat. This wasn't supposed to happen, things weren't supposed to turn out this way. He didn't recognise her, how could he? Fifteen years had passed since she had been that little three year old. But he had thought her dead; she wasn't even a possibility in his head right now. This was just all wrong…

Genesis turned his back to the girl, looking to Angeal for possible inspiration - the kid was freaking out - and he certainly didn't know why. He hadn't even said anything, Angeal had. Technically that meant it was his fault now too.

Angeal sighed; shooting the other male a dangerous look, a bit of concern went a long way. The girl was obviously upset about something and yet he just turned his back on her after starting all this - there was a difference between being lost and being ignorant. Why was everyone so hell bent on getting ShinRa on the Garden's bad side again? It had taken well over a decade to repair the bridge that had been burnt the last time the two had crossed paths, and yet here were Zack and Genesis only too willing to burn it down again. He shook his head as he walked past the red-coated SOLDIER, purposely holding his gazed until he had passed, then turned to face the SeeD cadet, addressing both her and his friend.

"Let me know when you come down from that high horse, Genesis. Are you okay?"

Christi shook her head slowly, only then aware of Seifer standing behind her. He must have followed her down. She would thank him for that later, it was appreciated, she didn't feel so sick now. Stunned, scared, afraid, along with every other emotion possible. She opened her mouth and uttered the one word she knew they would understand;

"Angel…"

Genesis snapped his head around as the lowly spoken word rested on the still air of the hall. _**Angel**_…that's what Christi had called Angeal. She had never been able to say his name properly, instead calling him Angel, something that had only seemed to work out better in the little girl's mind by his white wings. But how did she know that? How did she know something only he, Alex, Angeal and Christi had been aware of? No one else knew, of that, he was more than sure.

The sound of small chains striking the tiled floor of the assembly hall rang out louder, than it should have thanks to the silence of all within. All much too busy watching the unfolding revelations before them to talk amongst themselves and supply a little privacy. The locket and dog tags were back to where he had picked them up, albeit unintentionally dropped this time as opposed to thrown down. Her pale skin, her reddish-chestnut hair, the small angle to the side of her eyes, their hue and mako gleam…

"Christi?"

"Hi…Dad."

* * *

**_A/N: Turned out a lot longer than I thought it would, not sure about how it turned out though over all. Let me know what you thought, thanks for reading either way huns!_**


	5. Surprises

**_A/N: Hiya huns, sorry this took so long to update, I've kinda been snowed under with exams every day this week, only two more left and I'm free for the summer! :P_**

* * *

He shook his head, he blinked, shook his head again, but it was all still the same. The deafening silence, the staring eyes, the stunned faces, the girl - Christi. This was a joke, it had to be. Christi had died when she was three; he had spent fifteen years cutting himself off from ShinRa and friends, convinced it was easier. He had allowed guilt to eat away at his insides because he had not been capable of protecting his two girls, his world. But how did she know about Angeal's nickname then? Who had she inherited the mako in her eyes from…why had no one told him his baby had been safe and okay?

Tseng began to speak, keeping his voice level and neutral. This had turned into somewhat of a spectacle. He had pulled Rufus aside to inform him of Christi's existence and his fathers' evident meddling yet again. It had only been then that he had become aware of Genesis' return. Though it was not particularly good timing to think so, the Turk couldn't help but silently remark on the irony of the situation. Having only spoken to the teenager last night and now for the elusive SOLDIER to pop back up. The head-Turk suppressed a smile as he spoke, answering the questions he knew would be going through both Genesis and Christi's mind, it may not be the perfect reunion, but it was one nonetheless.

"ShinRa's inquiry ruled pilot error and no survivors, the inquiry was over seen by the then President of ShinRa. Headmaster Cid was informed that her father no longer wished to have any ties to her. Two opposing stories were told to each side."

"I was told you didn't want me…"

Genesis shook his head; this time answering the question that shone in her eyes…of course he had wanted her. Of course, he had. If he had known for one second that she had been alive, and then they would not be standing here now, they would not be staring at each other hardly knowing what to say. He wouldn't have left her here alone; he would probably have still left ShinRa, but would have done so with his daughter's best interests in mind.

"I didn't say that…I wouldn't have…If I'd known…"

Great, now he couldn't even say what he wanted to straight. Though he wasn't even sure what he wanted to say, what could he say? He could possibly start by picking up Alex's chains, which would be a good start. After that however, he was lost. Planning ahead had never been too much of a problem for him so long as it had been for SOLDIER or others, but when it came down to himself, the man tended to be at a loss. Where did things go from here?

Genesis bent slightly, attempting to pick up the two chains he had accidentally dropped, really not knowing what else to do. However, a smarting pain caught him off-guard as his butt met the ground with a jolt.

He hadn't thought it was possible to become more stunned than he already had, but he'd evidently been wrong. Genesis looked down as he realised how he'd been knocked from his feet - Christi. A moment or two of awkwardness before the clueless SOLDIER remembered how to react; hug back. She was real - this was real. He wasn't waking from a dream again, this was the reality. He looked down as a barely audible whisper caught his attention.

"Don't leave again."

Genesis took a breath to reply but cut himself short as an image shot across his mind, in the space of a second he had shared a knowing look with Angeal as Cloud looked up abruptly. But why the Mercenary School? It was far from both Edge and Kalm; it had never posed a threat to him before. Basing an assault on either ShinRa's Headquarters or The WRO's would make sense; it actually surprised him that Sephiroth hadn't done so already. However, a Garden of teenagers and kids? That was not his usual style.

Genesis moved quickly as another image shot through his mind, his arms kept grip around Christi as he stood and spun on his heels, facing her towards the wall, his taller frame shielding her as screams and yelps of surprise tore the silence of the assembly hall apart, glass layered the floor, raining down on those standing nearest as one of the large windows shattered inwards.

Anyone with kids needed to get out now, they needed to go somewhere safe either inside or outside the Garden. The summary on the front of the list of names had included a few points about SeeD cadets, such as the age limits; applicants for cadetships had to be between five and fifteen, SeeD candidates had to be between fifteen and nineteen. That meant there could be younger children in the building, along with inexperienced teenagers.

"Planning on recruiting children now I see?"

* * *

Cid glanced around the large hall as confusion threatened to take hold, he may not have had the pleasure or displeasure of meeting the once revered SOLDIER before today, but he had heard enough. He had seen enough lives ruined and torn apart by the man's actions, he had admitted many teenagers in the last few years that had been made orphans because of him.

Though timing couldn't have been worse, the Headmaster couldn't help but feel a small nugget of pride as he watched the older cadets' act upon the Garden rules immediately. He knew they didn't remember the Orphanage, a handful did however, the ones who refrained from using their Guardian Forces, Christi and Irvine, though whether Seifer did or not remained up for discussion. The reckless young man seemed to remember Christi and being at the Orphanage, though he evidently did not recall the others of the group.

"Rinoa and Selphie - make sure the younger cadets get to the emergency exits."

The two girls nodded quickly as they turned on their heels and quickly descended the bleachers, Squall doing the same behind them but separating and going the opposite direction once they had reached the bottom of the steps. One of the most basic rules of the Garden, apart from the usual ones and curfew, directed older cadets how to act in an emergency; ensuring that they stuck to the rules and took care of the younger cadets before anything else.

"Anyone with kiddies - follow me!"

He didn't have to repeat his words; Zell looked over his shoulder quickly as several females followed. He couldn't help but wonder why someone would bring their kids, let alone infants as young as these appeared to be, with them on a mission.

Maybe they had a different view of missions than he had been thought, but it still seemed a bit simple in his mind. Little kids like that did not belong anywhere even remotely close to what was happening right now. Granted, their parents probably hadn't expected something like this, he certainly hadn't, but bringing a kid on a mission period wasn't a particularly smart thing to do. Look at Christi - that's how she had ended up here.

Zell smirked as he caught sight of their worried faces, each trying to look back over her shoulder to see how their partners were fairing as the horrible screeches of shadow creepers began to tear up the tiles of the assembly hall floor with their razor sharp talons. They had a right to be scared, but they were with him now, so they'd be okay. He didn't care how cocky that sounded; he knew when maturity had to kick in. The wiry blond wasted no time in opening the side door of the assembly hall, leading into the ballroom.

"You head back, I'll take these to the Headmaster's office, it's the safest place here."

Zell nodded as Nida passed him out the door. For some reason the cadet always seemed to spend more time in Cid's office than anyone else, even him. That in itself was an accomplishment; he was sucker for a T-board and a sucker for being caught in the corridors with it. However, Nida wasn't the kind of person that got into trouble or caused trouble, which made one question what exactly he did in Cid's office.

* * *

He knew that voice, despite how many years had passed since they had last spoken the voice was unmistakable. It always had been. Always calm and level, regardless of what situations befell its owner. That had irked him in the past, no matter what went on the SOLDIER had always held his composure, all while he and others had allowed their emotions to rule their judgement.

Jealousy maybe, but not now. He certainly was not jealous of a monster. Genesis turned as the last of the glass finished raining down; passively ensuring his frame still blocked Christi's from view.

Things may have happened fast, he may still be confused by most of it and unsure, but one thing was certain in his mind; she would not get hurt. It was only then that the SOLDIER realised someone had already but a defence between him and Sephiroth while his back had been turned; Angeal stood alongside him, a katana raised as his sights remained on the silver-haired Nightmare.

This was the first time the three of them had been together in the same room since he had defected from ShinRa all those years ago, look how far two of them had fallen since then. It seemed Angeal had been the only one out of the three to hold onto his pride and dignity. He had left his with ShinRa when he had left, Sephiroth had murdered his. Thrown it to the side in Nibelheim, left it to burn in the ruins of the small town. Why did he keep coming back? Maybe it had some kind of connection to when the Cloud had thrown him into the lifestream? Considering the whole geostigma epidemic a few years ago, it seemed likely.

"No quotes?"

Genesis ducked as Angeal blocked, giving the past-hero a rather dirty look as he registered the comment; very funny. He knew some kids who could make comments with more maturity than that, well actually he didn't, but the girl who had been speaking to him onboard the Shera probably could. So what if he liked a book, was he not entitled to? It was an interesting play, people would realise that if they ever read it properly instead of going to see the stage play, that itself did not do the book justice, it didn't portray the three friends the way the pages did and did in an infallible way...was he seriously debating Loveless with himself?

Genesis shook his head as he stopped his train of thought, wrong place and wrong time. The SOLDIER pushed against the other's blade as he strove to gain some ground, to move away from the wall where Christi stood watching. She shouldn't just be standing there, she should have moved, should have followed that blond kid with the tattoo - the one who had thrown her chains from her - she should have followed him, he had gotten the women and the infants out of the hall with remarkable speed.

* * *

She hadn't noticed what else was going on, she'd been too busy staring over her father's shoulder at the man she had only seen on television reports and a minor training profile. Pictures, words, reports, even eyewitness accounts did not hold a candle to the man. SeeD cadets were taught to both respect his former rank and to not underestimate him. His jade eyes set her on edge for some reason; there was something not human about him. The calmness of his character, his voice level. Christi wasn't one hundred percent sure, if she had ever met this man before the crash, but if so, then he had undoubtedly changed since.

"Playing hide and seek?"

Christi tore her gaze away from the ex-SOLDIER as a voice spoke to her. The bulkiest of the three remnants stood before her, a childish glint in his eyes as he smirked. A small crackle gave away his intended action. Christi ducked as the remnant struck out, his dual hound striking the wall her back had been against only moments before, a small squeak escaping her lips as she covered her head with her hands.

Chunks of rubble rained down as the remnant smirked into the dust of the damaged wall, evidently not having realised his blow had missed. The teenager grimaced as she crawled away from where she had dropped to the ground, shards of glass painfully embedding themselves into the palm of her right hand. Another cry escaped her lips as someone grabbed her ankle and yanked back, her hands shot out from supporting her weight as he jaw struck the glass-covered floor.

"Get off!"

Christi continued to curse and yell as she flipped herself over, particularly pissed off not only to the small yet painful wounds the glass had caused on the palm of her hand but now also along the left side of her face, she kicked out hard with her free leg, twisting and squirming as she looked around for anything to grab onto or use. She had left her handguns in her dorm, bright idea that had been alright. His grip only tightened more, genuinely causing pain this time around. She kicked out again as she raised her left hand towards the childish yet intimidating remnant.

* * *

"Who are you protecting?"

His words were enough for the walls to shoot up. Genesis glanced back over his shoulder as Sephiroth pointedly looked behind him. One of the three twerps stood where Christi had, chunks of brick and concrete lying on the ground along with glass and ripped up floor tiles. It was only as a small yell met his ears did he realise what the remnant was doing, more so who he had caught by the ankle. Sephiroth inclined his head as realization dawned. She was his daughter.

Judging by her ability to use Firaga as she had along with the cells he could sense close by, the girl who had just managed to yank her foot away from Loz and regain her footing was Genesis' daughter. Though he had been under the belief that the girl had perished along with her mother. He had been on the SOLDIER floor when Genesis had both been summoned to the President's office and when he had returned. He and Angeal had been the ones to close ranks when Hojo and the President had demanded to know who had trashed the place.

But that was a lifetime ago now. No going back to when things were so simple, he didn't want to. Anything back then had been built a lie upon a lie, each one larger than the last. He hadn't expected to find Genesis here however, he hadn't expected to find him anywhere.

This Mercenary school had declared itself as an ally of ShinRa, and therefore had declared itself as an opposition to him. There were nothing more than a group of kids, but if they so wished to believe they could oppose him or those who stood by him, so be it, they could test their beliefs. Sephiroth smirked as he brought his masamune down, met in defiance by a katana and a crimson blade.

* * *

This wasn't fun, but it wasn't a training mission or a field exam either. It was real. This is what going to Edge would lead to, but they couldn't not go now, Sephiroth had attacked their school - their home. Most of them at the Garden were adopted or orphans, it had been their home since leaving the orphanage. This was the only place she knew as home, the only place she was comfortable in and knew every corridor and floor like the back of her hand and that silver-haired lunatic had attacked it - wait - they all had silver hair.

Christi looked around quickly, taking a split second to grasp her surroundings and bearings. The entrance and emergency doors of the assembly hall had been sealed shut via the Garden's computers. It wouldn't do much if Sephiroth or the remnants intended on breaching the rest of the school, but at least it would act as a hindrance. Angeal and Gene - her Dad were both pitting their skills against Sephiroth's, Zack Fair and Cloud Strife had passed her a second ago, the first almost knocking her from her feet again as he'd accidentally stepped on a piece of rubble, sending his balance awry.

They were taking care of the other two remnants, the youngest one and the one that used small gunblades and gave her the creeps. Loz had just realised his dual hound had missed its intended target, and had just spotted her again. That childish smirk had found its way back to his lips again, as she ran into his chest, she had been aware that he possessed remarkable speed, but she had underestimated that report. Again, she cursed herself for leaving her guns back in her dorm, mentally kicking herself in the butt for believing she would not need them. Another small squeak left her mouth as she ducked and sought shelter beneath the bleachers, using the steel bars and support frame to her advantage as she weaved between them, making it harder for the remnant reach her.

It wasn't that she couldn't fight, of course she could, she was a SeeD cadet, due to take her field exam soon - though Cid had been considering running their SeeD field exam as their transfer to ShinRa if they wished to transfer for the mission - but of course she could fight, she just wasn't a total idiot. Loz was undoubtedly faster than she was, taller and heavier built, she was relatively agile and fast, her small frame helped that matter, but she knew her own capabilities. She knew her strengths lay with firearms and organizing others, the technical side of battles.

The bleachers were longer than she thought. Loz was only a few metres behind her, though he was obviously enjoying this game of tag, she'd seen his speed already and was in no doubt that he could do so again in a split second if he wished to, regardless of how many steel beams and poles blocked his path. She could probably climb out through the spaces under the seats, but not in this uniform. She did not care how many times she had to duck or bend because of the support structure of the bleachers, it beat trying to get through one of the spaces wearing a skirt.

The main support beams were too high up for her to reach anyhow; they were the only real leverage she could use to climb out. They had to be that high; otherwise, they would not support the weight of the bleachers once they had been filled with students. Christi glanced back up towards some of the highest steel supports as an idea came to mind; the teenager ducked another horizontal pole as she fought the urge to do a face/palm and took aim for the highest of the steel beams - it was the obvious thing to do - just a pity she hadn't realised so before now, she fired several Firaga blasts before turning around and looking for the nearest way out, regardless of where of what she was wearing.

Seifer startled unintentionally as the bleachers they had all been sitting in not that long ago seemed to cave in on themselves, incapable of supporting their own weight. The blond stood for a moment as he tried to understand why that had just happened, he hadn't been aware of anything striking them or any of the shadow creepers on them, though he didn't think the creatures could actually cause the structured seats to give way and if there had been a flaw in their structure, then surely they would have gave-in while they had all been seated earlier? A small smirk crossed his lips, as he should his head, watching as Christi pulled her leg free of the wrecked seats. Question answered, it hadn't been shadow creepers.

"Did you have to do that?"

"Depends - you play tag with Loz - get back to me with your answer."

He had walked into that answer. Christi tended to be a bit like chicken-wuss at times; her mouth moving faster than her brain. It made for some rather amusing comebacks and comments about a number of the Garden faculty.

Christi looked back up as a section of the bleachers shifted, she watched as the considerably large section was thrown to the right, allowing Loz to stand back up and slowly step from the wreckage they had made of the bleachers - great plan that had been - it had gained her about ten seconds in all…Christi grimaced as the remnant smirked again, why did he do that? What was he, five? How could he be a remnant of Sephiroth? Okay, maybe Sephiroth was a bit of an egotistical ex-SOLDIER, with a god complex and serious separation anxiety from his Mommy, but Loz was clueless. The lights were on but no one's home. The newly turned eighteen-year-old ducked behind her boyfriend as the remnant stopped several feet from her and Seifer. She felt sick now…great timing that was. So was the pain in her head.

Seifer frowned as Christi moved behind him, which was not like her. She usually objected if he stepped in front of her when they had field exams. A quick glance over his shoulder to her face and he knew straight away what was wrong, migraine again. She got really bad migraines at random times, it had been going on with years at this stage, Dr. Kadowaki had examined her after the first few times, but hadn't found any relatable cause. It hadn't happened when they had been kids, or at least he didn't remember it happening. Either way it had decided to pop up at the worst of times right now.

* * *

"Do you know what I've been looking for, Genesis?"

First guess was Jenova…second was the black materia…third was a way to utilize the life stream, after that he really didn't care to be honest. All three options seemed to lead to the same conclusion for them and it wasn't a happy one. Genesis ducked as Sephiroth's masamune came dangerously close, paying full attention might help a little. Angeal was currently regaining his footing, Zack had knocked him over, how that kid had ever made it this far without being killed was beyond him, he was a skilled 1st Class in his own right, no doubts on that one, but he tended to take many things light heartedly. One would have thought coming so close to ending up in the Promised Land would have caused him to redefine his outlook on matters, but evidently not.

Genesis grimaced as the elongated blade tore a thin streak of crimson down his left arm - he deserved that. He'd been too busy finding faults with others than concentrating on the situation at hand. Angeal wasn't at his side anymore; he had only noticed that now. The man had probably been dragged into another fight via crossfire. Another close miss and Genesis had been pushed back as far as he was willing to go, much further and he would end up cornering himself; the SOLDIER smirked as he ran his left hand the length of his blade; watching it glow red as a past memory of the simulation room crossed his mind.

He glared into his cold and smug jade eyes, refusing to be the one to break the clash. As childish, as he knew his thought sounded; he was the hero now, not Sephiroth. Mental note never to allow those words to leave his mind. He felt somewhat guilty though, despite his unexpected and disallowed departure from SOLDIER and ShinRa, along with the loss that had played on his mind; Genesis had still retained his slight jealousy of Sephiroth.

He had found him that night in Nibelheim, gloating over how he was nothing more than an experiment too, relishing in how the man's beloved mystery mother Jenova was nothing more than a calamity that had fallen from the sky two thousand years ago. The way he had seen it; why should Sephiroth have been happy and content while he hadn't? Why should the hero always be fighting ShinRa's cause, always winning, always content with what he had, always so calm - and all while his whole world had come crashing down around him? Now look…he had literally handed Sephiroth the key to his descent into insanity. And all because he had been a jealous prick.

"What I want is a natural monster. You and I are both monsters, derived of others' experiments. But do you know what that makes your daughter, Genesis?"

One second, two seconds - then it hit him with an unmerciful kick to the stomach for added emphasis; realization. No, that girl was his daughter, as odd as it sounded to his own ears; he knew it wasn't a lie. Fifteen years may have passed since the last time he had seen her or held her, but she was his. She was his baby, his and Alex's, there was no way in the seven depths of hell that Sephiroth was going to get anywhere near her. He didn't care how much he had to fight or sacrifice, it wasn't going to happen. Another mental kick as he realised just how cold he had been, anyone else who had fought against Sephiroth as Angeal had said had kids, and only now was he realizing how much it upped the stakes.

"You'll have to go through me first Sephiroth!"

When exactly they had become air born was a mystery to him, it was only after receiving a blow and faltering had he noticed the drop below. Why hadn't he noticed that sooner? This was his territory, though Sephiroth bore a wing too, the SOLDIER tended to rely more on his swordsmanship than his magic or flight, something Genesis himself utilized as much as he could. Another chanced glance around to survey what was going on only served to earn the red-coated SOLDIER another bruise and possibly some cracked ribs, he really had to stop doing that. And there was the wall he hadn't wanted to hit. Genesis allowed himself to drop several feet before flexing his wing and regaining the lost altitude, now he was as far back as he could go, though that hadn't been his intention.

"A natural monster will take on Mother's role."

His head snapped up as his reserve broke. He didn't care if he was partially responsible for how far Sephiroth had fallen - crossing a line was crossing a line regardless of insanity or god-complex. Genesis laughed tauntingly as he raised his hand in anger, finding a somewhat comfortable joy in the slight and barely readable confusion that crossed Sephiroth's features before he was sent backwards by several particularly strong Firaga blasts. Genesis refused to relent in his barrage as the former SOLDIER collided with the far wall of the assembly hall, still not halting as a section of the wall gave way, providing a rather unusual exit for the Nightmare from the hall.

Angeal looked around, stunned as the countless shadow creepers seemed to dissipate into a black mist. Their surprise exit followed immediately by a shaking impact and more falling rubble. He glanced up as sunlight streamed through a considerably large gap in the outer wall of the assembly hall, through which innumerable distinguishable magic blasts followed. Then he saw who had cast them, in all the years he had known Genesis, he had only bore witness to that look upon his face twice; the first time when they had been younger and things had become heated in the simulation room between he and Sephiroth, the second time being when he had allowed his emotions and anger full reign on the SOLDIER floor after being informed of the Balamb Incident.

It wasn't a look he took joy in seeing, Genesis possessed hidden depths of anger and a wiry temper, though it took something rather considerable to provoke it. Angeal brought his katana up as several blasts came too close for comfort, the man was dangerous when he let himself get like this, disregarding sense, even striking out at friends - he still remembered vividly being caught in the crossfire of Genesis and Sephiroth that day. However, this was different, by the looks of it, the remnants had upped and left, as had Sephiroth, most likely caught off guard by Genesis appearance and anger.

"Genesis."

His eyes were on him now, but they weren't registering who he actually was, they were looking right through him, mako eyes livid and genuinely looking like what some described SOLDIERs' eyes as; demon eyes.

**_"Genesis!"_**

The blasts stopped as his shout bounded off the walls of the assembly hall, accentuated by the stunned silence of all below, none knowing how to react to their adversaries' sudden departure. He was looking at him, but properly this time, actually seeing him as him, not just another being ready to trade blows.

Genesis furrowed his brow, looking around slowly. Great, they were all staring again, and this time the excuse of kids not knowing any better was not allowed, and neither was Zack's excuse. Why were they all just standing there gaping? Surely, there were still some shadow creepers or remnants around to occupy them? Sephiroth was left, the lingering tug of his J cells had finally ceased, and meaning the one who possessed the most had left also. People really had a fixation with staring…first at ShinRa, then between him and Christi and now again. He was still seething and slightly confused on top of that. He wanted someone else or something else to take the remains of his anger out on, one of the remnants had to still be around at least…another look around and he hadn't managed to spot any of the silver-haired puppets.

"Where are the three twerps?"

* * *

**_A/N: Just to bring something back up, this is a slightly AU fic, there are some pretty obvious changes to the plot of the compilation, but I'm trying to keep as much to it as my plot will allow me to. Anyhu - thanks for reading :P_**


	6. Fear

**_A/N: Heya huns! I would have had this up a few days ago, only my laptop turned into a retard and refuses to register any available internet connections, so I had to retype all of this onto my Mam's painfully slow laptop :P_**

* * *

"What happened back there?"

Genesis shrugged, short answer; he had lost his temper because of Sephiroth's words. The long answer; he honestly didn't know where to start. He still didn't understand the meaning behind Sephiroth's words, but two main words had caught his attention; monster and Christi. He no longer cared about how quick things had transpired, he no longer cared about how confusing things had been prior to Sephiroth's arrival at the Garden, Christi was his baby…she wasn't a monster.

He had spent far too long labelling himself as a monster, telling himself he was nothing more than another's creation. Not allowing himself to be anything other than a monster – Christi wasn't a monster.

What was he supposed to tell Angeal? Sephiroth called her a name and he being the mature individual he was had lost his temper? Somehow he didn't think that would work in his favour or explain what had actually happened. Did he tell Angeal or wait until he figured out the true meaning behind Sephiroth's words before telling anyone? At least if he waited, he wouldn't look like an idiot who had lost his temper over mere words.

"Nothing, the past catching up I guess."

Angeal kept his mouth shut as he stood from where he had been leaning against the wall of the corridor, having collared his friend outside of the infirmary and stopping him from entering before trying to make sense of what had happened. He knew that wasn't the whole story. He didn't mean to imply that Genesis was a liar or anything, of course not, but the mad did have an unusual knack for skimming over the key factors of something, instead revealing only slight or basic details. But that was just the way Genesis worked, he wasn't going to push the matter, if Genesis required his opinion or someone to discuss anything with, then he knew where he was. As for now however, there was a ruined assemble hall ShinRa had to take responsibility for, though Reeve had already offered the aid of the WRO in repairing the damage.

Angeal watched for a second as he twisted two chains around in his palm; both Genesis and Christi had gotten pretty preoccupied with Sephiroth and Loz, he had gotten knocked from his feet thanks to someone's crossfire and had found the chains again. Genesis needed to talk to that girl, to Christi, the chains would provide hint from him. There was no possible way Genesis was getting out of this one, he wasn't usually one for anything personal, but this was different and too important. He would have to thank that girl with brown hair for telling him where Christi had got to.

"Remember the lobby we came through? Take the northern corridor; check the dorm with the door open, catch."

Genesis frowned as he caught whatever Angeal had thrown to him, watching the other SOLDIER turn and enter the infirmary. He had to hand it to the Garden, it was well equipped and the cadets had hardly been phased by the unexpected arrival of Sephiroth and the three twerps, they had stuck to whatever rules the Garden operated by, he was somewhat surprised by their actions, especially considering they were only teenagers.

He would have to draw attention to his friend's black humour later, between mentioning Balamb at the graveyard and now the directions and chains, Angeal had developed a somewhat tinted sense of humour in the years that had passed since he had defected. He shouldn't smirk really, but he couldn't help himself; way to be subtle, Angeal.

* * *

Stupid skirt, stupid jacket, stupid shoes, just all stupid. Christi cursed as she tossed her shoes over towards the far wall of their bedroom, putting much more venom than what was needed into the action. Everyone else was still back at the infirmary or in Cid's office; she had managed to escape the full-to-the-brim infirmary as soon as Dr. Kadowaki had seen to the cuts on her hand and face. She didn't like being in a place that crowded, it was too suffocating.

Christi grimaced as she pulled a hoody on over her head, a dull ache emanating from the left side of her ribs, she didn't remember getting hit with anything there; it was probably from crawling our through the broken bleachers.

"Stupid fucking Loz…"

And now her other was missing, another curse met the air of her dorm as she lay down across her bed, looking beneath the other side of it as she tried to find her elusive trainer. How come you only ever lost one, never both? How come she managed to lose them full-stop? She was the only one in the dorm, so she couldn't blame anyone else for messing with them. Where was Selphie? She always managed to find stuff when she couldn't or Seifer, anyone was better at finding things than she was; when it came to losing stuff or misplacing them, she was second to none, just a pity she could never find them again afterwards.

A lot of cadets had already gone to Seifer, Fujin and Raijin, trying to figure out whether or not pulling out of the transfer option would affect how eligible they were for the SeeD exam. That had managed to piss Seifer off rather fast, he was head of the disciplinary committee; how was he supposed to know that? She also reckoned that the fact some of the cadets were pulling out was pissing him off too – he had already failed the SeeD exam too many times to count – and was slowly running out of time to take it; a cadet could take it every spring from when they turned fifteen right up until they turned twenty, but once they turned twenty they were released from the Garden and were no longer permitted to take the field exam – he was already eighteen; he had two more chances.

That was easier said than done though, Seifer was reckless, arrogant and ignorant at times, but it wasn't all that bad once you knew him…and still her sneaker was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the fuck…"

"Lose something, or some things?"

Christi made to look up as someone's voice sounded from outside her bedroom, the teenager cursed again as her arm slipped on her duvet and off the side of her bed, leaving her to lose her balance and follow her duvet down to the carpeted floor of her room.

He hadn't meant to startle her. He didn't know what he had meant to do; he had followed Angeal's directions. But now Genesis was stumped again, well not stumped exactly but moreover nervous. He didn't know what he was supposed to say or do; he had never imagined himself in this situation. He had never imagined being face to face with his own daughter as opposed to his wife's grave.

Now he stood in her room, with Alex's chains in one hand, a sneaker in the other and a rather startled looking teenager looking from behind her bed up at him. What was he supposed to say? Was he even allowed to speak to her as a Dad? Did he still have that right? He wasn't sure, she had been here for fifteen years; she had been led to believe he no longer wanted her, so did he still have the right to care about her as her Dad?

He knew how paranoid that sounded, even in his own head, but it was honest at least. One thing was more than clear in his head though; Christi was his baby, he loved her and would do all he could to protect her. But he wasn't going to suffocate her; someone else had been her guardian for as long as she could remember, that was fine.

"I think this is yours…"

Christi nodded dumbly as she quickly snapped her sneaker from her bed, where it had landed after he'd tossed it towards her. He was the last person she had expected to turn around and see, Seifer or Selphie, possible Raijin or Fujin, but not him. It's that it was a bad thing or anything, but just…odd.

She was nervous again, she wasn't sure why though. She had wanted this, right? She had thought she did, she had all these things in her head, parts of memories shattered into too many pieces to count thanks to the crash. She kinda remembered him, but only his presence, not anything specific from when she was younger. Sometimes dreams woke her during the night, random dreams that made no sense to her but yet she knew they had something to do with life before the crash…the memories were there, but just broken.

Maybe she had been a little over-ambitious earlier, hugging him. But it had been heat of the moment and the moment had died a horrible death once the window had shattered. She felt really stupid now because of that, he had only just found out she was alive and there she was playing happy families when that was the last thing she actually knew how to do.

She wanted so badly to be able to call him Dad, but she didn't know if she had the right to. Maybe he would get angry if she did? But maybe he wouldn't? She didn't know...Christi remained quiet as pulled on her sneaker, not bothering to open the laces. This was painfully awkward, someone should say something, but she really didn't know what. She kneeled up quickly as she noticed his hand on the door handle – she didn't want the door closed – he could do anything else he wanted, just as long as he didn't close the door.

"Please don't close that!"

Genesis snapped his hand away from the door as Christi sat up immediately, her eyes flashing dangerously as her eyes shot to the door. Mental note never to shut a door around her. Okay, so now he knew she either got angry or scared when someone closed a door, why though was still a mystery. Now he was curious again, but it looked as if he had already made one wrong move, though accidentally, better not to push it.

She hadn't meant to shout or sound that cold, but over reacting was an understatement when it came to someone closing a door or closing her in somewhere. She panicked. She always did, anyone who knew her knew that at this stage and had accepted it. That's why her dorm door had been left open, she constantly left the door open; any of the cadets on her corridor knew that. But he hadn't, which had been unfair; all he had tried to do was close a door. She should explain, especially considering she had broken the ice with her somewhat panicked shout.

"Sorry…I just don't do very well when I'm closed in."

"You're claustrophobic?"

"No, not really, okay, maybe...kinda-ish…"

Genesis raised an eyebrow as he leaned back against what he could only assume was her closet. He had to hand it to her for avoiding an answer. She had almost leapt to her feet when he had tried to close a door, but it seemed that only qualified her as having only a partial fear of being closed in. He cocked his head to the right, smiling lightly as he spoke and Christi hid her face in her hands.

"You just freaked when I tried to close a door…"

"Well if you say it like that, then of course it's gonna sound bad."

Now he actually wanted to laugh, was there any good way of saying that? Laugh; now that was something he hadn't done in quite a while. But at least the strangling and strained atmosphere had eased considerably. At least now she was smiling, that was good, it made him feel less uneasy. But curiosity had taken hold once more. Genesis watched her closely as he spoke, he had already done something she wasn't comfortable with; he didn't exactly want to do that again.

"How come you're claustrophobic…ish?"

Christi shrugged as she grabbed hold of one of her pillows, tucking it beneath her chin as she crossed her legs and leaned against the wall behind her. That was a good question, one she didn't really like talking about or explaining about. But if she didn't answer, then that awkward silence was going to come back. She had lied to Tseng when explaining about the crash, well, not lied exactly. Technically she could use the excuse of speaking Wutain was why she had explained so sparingly. She had said the main points of the crash, just ignored what had happened afterwards.

She didn't like thinking about what had happened after her Mom had put the chains around her neck, let alone speaking about it. But he was her Dad, he kinda had a right to know, she knew if she declined to answer, he wouldn't push the matter; something about him gave her that impression, but if she didn't answer then it wasn't really fair; considering she had almost yelled at him because he'd tried to close a door. Christi shook her head as she stared at the floor beneath her bed, speaking quietly as she kept the pillow hugged across her stomach; the edge tucked beneath her chin.

"I don't really remember anything from before the crash, I can remember some of the crash…Mom was worried, everything shook, then she walked away but when she came back she was upset – she tried to hide it though – but she had a look in her eyes…I didn't know what it meant then, but I know now it was hopelessness…she knew things weren't going to end in a good way…I wanted to go home…I wanted you go come and fix things like you always did. Mom told you she was sorry; then everything went dark and quiet…it was cold and no one would wake up, well, I thought they were asleep, guess I was wrong, huh? I couldn't get out, Mom was cold and she wouldn't wake up, I tried to get out - but I couldn't - I just, I couldn't…I don't do well closed in, I don't like it."

Christi trailed off as she wiped away a rebellious tear; only for another to streak it's way down her other cheek. She freaked out when shut in because the last time she had been shut in without any way out, it had been along with her dead mother and others. She didn't know why she panicked because of that, but she just did, she wished she didn't, but that was something she was yet to overcome.

Why did she say sorry? Why would she even consider she had had to? Genesis blinked as he tried to clear his vision, somewhat shocked by the odd and alien sensation of a warm tear streak on his cheek. Alex shouldn't have said sorry, it wasn't her fault; she would have known that. And now Christi was crying too, he shouldn't have asked her what the root to her fear was, if he had been using his brain he would have realised it was most likely the crash.

Another second or two of silence and the SOLDIER had crossed the few feet separating him from the teenager, ignoring whatever insecurity had filled him earlier, she was upset now, which was partially his fault, but moreover – he was her Dad, he was supposed to stop her from getting upset or hurt. Genesis remained silent as he allowed himself to slide down the wall next to her, pausing for a moment due to being somewhat unsure of his next action, before putting an arm around her shoulders. Whatever had made him unsure quickly vanished as Christi rested her head against his chest, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her hoody.

His eyes immediately locked onto the white bandage covering her hand, he would ensure Loz suffered for that – retarded twerp – from here on in he had his reasons and something to fight for.

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**_A/N: Thanks for reading! :P_**


	7. Locket

_**A/N: Hallooo again, shortish chapter here huns!**_

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Christi sniffed as she wiped away another tear with the sleeve of her hoody; things actually made sense. For once things weren't missing or confusing. Odd, of course, but she knew it was real, that it wasn't about to be taken away again. She knew he hadn't gone away on purpose now, she knew she hadn't been merely kicked to the side. A small smile crossed her face as he handed her back the two chains. Stupid Zell…she'd thank him for being childish later though. She glanced sideways as a random thought crossed her mind.

"How come Mom's tags only have her maiden name on them?"

Genesis blinked as he looked to the dog tags; good question. That hadn't even crossed his mind. But now that she had pointed it out it seemed pretty obvious. He honestly didn't know why; probably the President trying to get his own little victory up on him. To say he and the man had not seen eye to eye would be a complete and utter understatement. They'd hated each other; despised each other to their very cores. What exactly he had ever done to deserve the man's unlimited distaste was beyond him; he had never openly admitted his hatred to the man, nor had he ever done anything to instigate mistrust or hate.

The old fart had seen him as a part of his property; his and his alone. Why though - because of money. Genesis had never been one to have much good luck, but finding out his own DNA had been degrading had taken the cake. Okay, first of all finding out you were merely an experiment was bad enough, but then realizing the person who had spear headed the experiment had been your best friend's father had taken the matter to a whole new level, but even that hadn't been the end of it. No, the worst had been the aftermath of the degradation.

How the President had considered him simply another one of his possessions had been the worst of it. It wasn't his fault Hollander's supposedly concrete theories hadn't been correct. It hadn't been his fault the degradation had happened, but seems it had happened to him and it had cost the company so much Gil to correct their scientist's failure; the President had seen that as reason enough to assume ownership.

He guessed going off and getting another employee – one who hadn't been on his favourites list either – pregnant hadn't really helped matters. Nor had marrying her. But they had been entitled to do what they had felt right, not what some morbidly obese jackass with a cigar had deemed as suitable. Mind you, Alex had never liked the man either. The only difference being at least he hadn't openly shown that. She had disregarded direct orders from him on several occasions; Turks remained loyal to their head Turk and him alone, regardless of whether they transferred or not.

Genesis shrugged, randomly reaching out and taking back the locket he had just returned, somewhat curious as to why she hadn't looked at the picture inside; he assumed she hadn't anyhow. She certainly hadn't recognised him in the assembly hall, he knew the picture had been taken when she was very little, but he hadn't changed all that much since it had been taken, not in his appearance at least. A dent, that's why. There was a small dent on one of the sides near where the clasp held the two sides together, stopping it from opening. He could fix that, as small as it seemed but he could fix something for her; he could make something right again.

"Can I take a look?"

Christi nodded as she let him take the locket from her hand, watching quietly as he turned it over in his hand, paying particular attention to the damaged side. She had already tried to open it, as had Seifer, Squall, Irvine, even Raijin. She had pretty much given up hope on seeing the picture inside when even Raijin couldn't open the small locket. She watched with interest as her father took off one of his gloves, closing his unsheathed hand around the locket, a small smile on his face as he looked back to her.

"Do you remember what the picture inside is?"

She shook her head, nope. She really didn't have clue what picture was inside, all she knew was the locket had belonged to her Mom. It had been stubborn curiosity which had led to her trying to open the damaged piece of jewellery in the first place as well as leading her to ask literally everyone else to try and open it too.

He hoped this worked, if not then he'd find some other way to fix it. It should work though, in theory at least; metal expanded when heated, like most things, summoning a small firaga blast should heat it enough; so if it expanded, then that should cause the dent to be reduced a small bit when it cooled again, if the dent was reduced in size then it should allow the locket to open – in theory at least.

Genesis suppressed a yawn as he opened his hand again, only then noticing how tired he was. He hadn't slept since the night before he'd gone to Alex's grave; it had been impossible to sleep on the airship to Balamb, between an inquisitive child, people staring and another kid going around with an ipod up to its' volume's limit; sleep had somewhat evaded him. The SOLDIER frowned for a moment as the locket refused to open, but thankfully with another tug the two halves pulled apart; revealing the picture inside which had stayed hidden for fifteen years.

Christi looked up with an inquisitive look, wiping some sleep from her eyes as she yawned; wanting an explanation as to what he was doing, but he only handed her back the locket; nodding his head towards it. She took the hint, switching her gaze back down to where the locket lay in her hand. Christi blinked dumbly as suddenly realised it was open; she had already give up hope on ever opening it; the dent had probably been caused during the crash. But it was open now; she could see the picture.

It was small, but that was to be expected when you considered the size of the locket itself, that didn't matter though. All that mattered were the people staring back at her from behind the small glass of the locket's interior; a tall young man, hazel hair, bright blue eyes, pale complexion; the same person as who was sitting next to her on the floor of her bedroom. In his arms was a little girl with mid-length hair of the same colour, grey eyes with the same shimmer that lit the man's. But what interested Christi the most was the woman standing next to her Dad, the one he had his arm around; she was shorter than him, her skin was darker too, her angled slate-grey eyes and petite features framed by long and loose ebony locks.

"Mom…"

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"What are you two doing?"

Selphie jumped as she turned to a SOLDIER staring down at her. He was the same man she had talked to before; telling him where Christi's dorm was. He seemed to be okay, she'd seen him speaking to Aki before coming into the assembly hall and he had been the one to ask her if Christi was okay after things had calmed down a little. She smiled sheepishly as she shrugged, rolling her eyes up towards the ceiling with feigned interest.

"Um, we, uh – we got lost."

Angeal laughed lightly as he shook his head; lost, yeah right. She was a See D cadet and only now she got lost in her own Garden? It wasn't particularly her he had meant to startle, but more so the woman who was still spying around the frame of the open dormitory door. One would think becoming a mother would knock some sense into a person; but not Yuffie. She would always be her hyperactive and kleptomaniac self.

How Yuffie and someone like Vincent had ever ended up together was utterly beyond him. A hyperactive young woman with an affinity for stealing Materia and a silent, brooding ex-Turk that greatly surpassed her in age; an unlikely pair no doubt. But who was he to point that out? If they were happy, then that was all that mattered really. They reminded him a little of Alex and Genesis in that sense; when they had been kids in Banora, Alex had delighted in annoying Genesis to no ends; leaving him to play referee between the two. She had been a rebellious tomboy; hell-bent on keeping up with her two male friends despite being younger and smaller.

But none of that really mattered – why were they spying on Christi and Genesis? The girl could be excused, she was evidently a close friend of Christi, and Yuffie on the other hand had barely only met Genesis and was no way a friend of his goddaughter. A fleeting smile crossed his lips as he thought over it again; goddaughter, that little imp he had been led to believe had died; she was alive and she was making her own way in this mess of a world.

"Yuffie…"

"Shushh! C'mere Angeal, look!"

He didn't exactly have a choice in the matter as the woman grabbed his arm and yanked him down to her level, pointing in through the open door and towards another open door further within the dorm. Okay, maybe spying was wrong, maybe it was an invasion of privacy – maybe. But it did give another point of view on a situation. Like the one before them now; with Christi asleep leaning against his friend's chest, Genesis with his arm around her shoulders, his head atop hers, sleeping having taken hold of him too.

Angeal nodded as he straightened back up, they'd gotten their look, now it was time to go and leave them alone. The SOLDIER put a hand on the back of Yuffie's shoulder, putting his other on the girl's shoulder and pushing both of them a head of him back down the corridor, ignoring their protests as he glanced back over his shoulder; making sure no one else had decided to take a peek through the open dorm door.

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**_A/N: Thanks for reading!_**


	8. Vulnerability

_**A/N: Hiya huns! How's your summer vacations going?  
**_

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People had always told him about how time heals wounds, it had been a personal favorite of those who had attended Alex's funeral, but that wasn't true. Time skimmed over wounds, trying to cover them up and hide them from recollection, but it certainly didn't heal them. A scar hid the inner damage, look at the Northern Crater; over two thousand years had passed and shown it to be no more than a crater, but the one who had caused it still managed to make life harder on the planet's inhabitants. The Northern Crater was the planet's own personal scar; healed but still weeping with a dangerously fatal infection. Time didn't heal, it hid and made people forget, making them vulnerable.

Time had even tried to hide what had happened here. So had President ShinRa apparently…but that didn't matter anymore. The man was dead, maybe that was a good thing? One thing he knew for sure though, if the man wasn't dead already, he would kill him. Crossing a line did not even go to explain what the man had done. What would have happened if Angeal's guilt trip hadn't worked? What if ShinRa hadn't decided to recruit from here, he'd still think his daughter was dead. She'd still think he hadn't wanted her…

Nothing remained as evidence of what had happened here fifteen years ago. No parts of the chopper, no sign of impact, any marks on the lay of the battlefield had long since been covered up by the changing seasons, washing away oil and fuel, growing over scorch marks, eroding scratches and furrows in the ground. ShinRa hadn't left anything behind that may even hint at its' presence. The only thing that enlightened him that this had been the battlefield where his whole world had come crashing down was the small plaque set into one of the stones; a list of all the people who had been lost there years before.

That was odd when you thought about it, ShinRa had recalled the bodies of their staff, removed any traces that the chopper had crashed, left a three year old in a strange place she had never been before and then simply left. Balamb's Headmaster had looked after his little girl, they had been the ones to clean up the battlefield after the remains of the chopper had left, they had been the ones to find out the names of who had died and they had been the ones to put a plaque here as evidence of those who had lost their lives.

At least they had paid respect to the personnel that had died. Genesis smiled slightly as he skimmed his hand over Alex's name. He hadn't had to speak to the Headmaster after all, just one of the Garden's students when he'd been leaving the school. The girl had been happy to help, giving directions and even offering to show him where it was. That was one thing he had noticed about this place, all the youngsters seemed polite, maybe it was only because ShinRa were visitors, but it was better then a school full of moody teenagers.

Waking up on the floor of Christi's dorm had been a fun experience, especially when it had taken him several long minutes to figure out why he had been staring at a bed as opposed to lying on it like any other normal person. He had also discovered that sleeping with your butt on a floor and your back against a wall was not comfortable, at least not when you eventually woke up and tried to move, painful was an understatement. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, he guessed a few hours though, it wasn't night yet but judging by the quickly fading light it was already late evening. They were scheduled to leave tomorrow and any cadets that agreed to the terms of the transfer, if any were still in favour of it after Sephiroth's little visit.

She was still asleep when he had left, though on her bed; after discovering how painful waking up in that position was he had taken to initiative to save her from discovering the same, lifting her from the floor and onto her bed. He had also had to stop himself from closing her dorm door out of habit as he had left; remembering her reaction when he had attempted to close her bedroom door.

Genesis sighed as he leaned back against the large rock the plaque was set into, looking up at the dulling sky as he tried to take stock of the last few days. Things had kind of snowballed at a confusing speed since Angeal had played the guilt card on him at Alex's grave a few days ago. Was that all it had been, three days? It felt longer, how did all that fit into three days? Wilfully going to Balamb was something had even surprised himself. In all the years that had passed he had never once felt the need or urge to com here, the opposite in fact. Why should he have wanted to come to the place which had claimed his wife and daughter? Considering how things had turned out, maybe he should have ventured a trip here earlier.

The newly reunited father shook his head as he thought about it all. How come things like this only happened to him? Seriously, everyone else seemed to have the perfect little life with their husbands or wives and their kids, a car, white picket fence – and then here he was trying to piece together everything that had been broken so long ago – someone in the promised land hated him and he really didn't know why, there was no other excuse for it, no way this could just be luck.

He had had that life once though. He had been born into that life too, and he had hated it. That's why he had decided to join SOLDIER, for some meaning and something that actually presented a challenge as opposed to quiet little Banora and his role as Mayor's son. But he'd discovered that that perfect stereotypical life was an illusion, one that people fell into without knowing. He had fallen into, he had married the girl he'd always had a crush on, though he never admitted that much to Alex, she would have teased him endlessly because of it, they'd had a beautiful little girl together, they'd lived in an apartment on the plate, things had been so perfect, but then the illusion had shattered.

Alex had always been an annoying little brat when they'd been kids, constantly teasing him and pulling practical jokes. He guessed it hadn't helped much that he'd found endless enjoyment in calling her shorty. She'd despised being called that with a vengeance, but knowing that had only encouraged him; he'd received several dumb apples to the head for his teasing though. When Alex threw something you ducked and you prayed to god you'd ducked enough because one thing she certainly hadn't done was miss a target. She'd always had a deadly aim, be that with dumb apples or with firearms. She had specialized with firearms after making the Turk ranks, settling with two handguns as her weapons of choice.

So had Christi; or at least he assumed as much having seen the two lying in their holsters on a belt back in her dorm. For some odd reason, he found comfort in knowing that. She'd also cut her hair; when she'd been younger, Alex had insisted on leaving her hair long. Okay, he agreed it looked cute and all, but he'd had the honour of trying to braid it one day when Alex had had to be at work early – not fun. Not possible. Maybe it was only Moms that could work hair to do exactly what they wanted it to, but he certainly hadn't. A ponytail had been complicated enough for him to put Christi's hair into without tangling it.

Alex would probably freak if she saw their daughter's hair now though; tightly cut at the back, cut short enough for the teenager to spike if she wished too, but left with a long side fringe at the front, odd style he had to admit, but who was he to comment? He'd seen people with more crazy styles…the remnants were three, no actually just Loz. Christi had certainly inherited more of his genes in regard to phenotype, the same coloured hair, same pale skin, the Mako in her eyes. But that was about it; inside she was her mother through and through. Having inherited her mother's petite frame and steel grey eyes, along with her evident affinity with handguns, she also seemed to make quick retorts, not caring whether they were deemed polite for the situation or not.

Genesis smiled as he thought over all the attributes Christi had in common with her mother, they probably would have butted heads a lot if they'd all still been together. And then he would have got to play referee, either that or he would have ducked out of the way or gotten caught in the crossfire. Someone else in that situation would more than likely tell him of how lucky he was to have missed those confrontational years…but he wasn't. He hated that he'd missed all that, that he had missed all the milestones of her life and of fatherhood; introducing his daughter to her grandparents in Banora, her first school report, helping her with her homework, parent-teacher meetings, summer vacations, Christmas' mornings, scaring possibly boyfriends, threatening to make their lives hell when she'd leave the room, he had missed it all. Though he could probably still make some kind of move on the boyfriend front…

That was another thing, her grandparents. He personally hadn't spoken to his parents since joining SOLDIER; they were still alive, that much he knew. But he doubted if they even knew he was considering ShinRa had questioned them first in regards to his defecting. It wasn't that they were on bad terms, he didn't think they were. Between SOLDIER duties and missions, along with life in general, he had just never had a free moment to go visit them. The same went for Alex. They had only been able to inform their respective parents of their marriage and daughter by letters and a picture of Christi. He had meant to visit that winter, he and Alex had purposely booked two weeks off for Christmas, intending to spend it back at home in Banora…but then the crash had happened and everything had just gone so wrong.

The ground beneath his feet had simply disappeared, leaving him to fall slowly. Leaving ShinRa had always been in the back of his mind. He had learned shortly after making 1st Class that the company looked after itself and itself only. Its' personnel had been nothing more than numbers on a pay roll. When you signed a contract with ShinRa, it was a contract for life. The President had seen that as his proof of ownership, and if you didn't agree, then that was where the Turks had stepped in. But he had been cornered, if he had decided to leave ShinRa, then Alex and Christi would be taken as collateral, regardless of whether or not Alex had been an employee of the company. He knew the Turks wouldn't hurt her, she had started off as a Turk before being switched to technician, but if push had ever come to shove, she would have been transferred back; Turks didn't target their own. Few knew of it, but he knew Tseng had not eliminated Veld like he had reported, he knew that through Alex. Turks covered up for each other and hid each other, but they never harmed one of their own.

It was sort of ironic really, he had stayed with SOLDIER as long as he had in order to protect his family, his family had always come first with SOLDIER in close second, but look how things had turned out anyhow. He had still lost her. As childish as he knew it was, realising who Christi was had sparked a tiny flame of hope; if what the President had told him about Christi had been nothing more than a lie, then what about Alex? Was it not possible that that had been a mere fabrication too?

No it wasn't possible. He that. Unlike Christi, her body had been brought back to Midgar a few days after the crash had been reported. He had contacted her parents and his, but ShinRa had refused to wait the necessary two days for them to arrive at Midgar slums for the funeral. They had probably arrived a few days afterwards to mourn and pay their respects, but he had been long gone since by that time. He still wasn't sure why he had decided to defect from the company, he guessed there had been nothing left in Midgar to stay for apart from the company that in his eyes had as good as killed his wife and daughter. Only a handful of people had known he had intended on disappearing. Angeal had been one, Sephiroth another, and so too had Rika.

Rika…there was another person who hadn't crossed his mind in a long time. Wow, he really did have a bad memory. Rika, how could he have forgotten her? She had been a SOLDIER, 1st Class and all, how the hell had he forgotten about her? Moreover, how come Angeal hadn't mentioned her? Okay, he hadn't outwardly asked about her, but still. Rika was Angeal's younger sister, well half sister, it seemed Hollander had liked to play around while staying in Midgar. Rika had joined SOLDIER a year or two after he and Angeal had, working her way up to 1st Class only a few months after they had. They had all worked side by side for years before her connection to Angeal had come to light. She had been fun to work with, she and Alex had been close friends, she'd even been Christi's godmother – how had he forgotten about her? Genesis furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to understand his evident memory lapse, if Rika or Alex were here right now they'd hit his head or something…what about everything with Sephiroth though? Oh great, here came the guilt again…Rika had started off as Sephiroth's mission companion, being sent on missions as a team, but it hadn't taken long for something to develop between them…oh god, she hadn't even been a second thought in his mind since Alex's funeral, he'd been so caught up in his own head their relationship hadn't even crossed his mind that night in Nibelheim…and he'd just went straight ahead and shattered Sephiroth's illusion.

Oh no, why had done that?! Sephiroth hadn't done anything to him…he'd covered his ass when he'd trashed the SOLDIER floor, he'd kept his mouth shut when he had know about his imminent disappearance…he'd even tried to help him after the crash, so why the hell had he been so intent on hurting the man? He had gone to Nibelheim, he had read all the stuff regarding Hojo's experiment and Jenova and he had taken so much pleasure in waving it in front of his face, taunting the public Hero, watching as the man's mental supports had began to crack and tumble down slowly…why had he done that?

Why had he become such a mess? He hadn't been like this before…he hadn't been so cold towards Angeal, nor had he snapped at relative strangers because they'd simply been looking at him. He'd never been prepared to yell at a teenager for wearing someone's chains before…he had never struck out at someone due to bitterness before. He'd been so confused and bitter back at Nibelheim…he'd just seen Sephiroth and his perfect little life and had been so angry, why should he have still had his perfect life when his had been ripped away? Why should anyone else have been happy when he hadn't even been capable of that emotion anymore?

Genesis groaned as he snapped his head back, not caring that he struck it off of the rock behind. The SOLDIER swallowed past a painful lump in his throat as he tried to hold it back but failed. None of this was fair, he didn't care anymore, and this just wasn't fair anymore. Alex was gone, he'd purposely destroyed a man's life out of bitterness and jealousy, he'd abandoned anyone who had stood by him, and now he had a daughter to protect and he didn't trust himself not to fail there too. How had he managed to fuck up so much along the lines?

Alex had died and he had simply fallen apart at the seams, he tried to run away from his own emotions, telling himself he didn't feel them, telling himself it didn't hurt that much when it had killed him every single day since…the lump became too much to swallow past for the SOLDIER, he slid down the rock to the ground, his shoulders shaking violently as sobs wracked his frame – she was gone – and she was never coming back. She had been what had held him together all those years, she had been the one to support him when he'd been told about the degradation, she'd been the one to hit him for calling himself a monster…she'd been the one. And now she wasn't here anymore and he had to deal with this all on his own. He missed her, he missed her more than he would ever admit to anyone here, and time went by, it fixed him on the outside, but his heart was still shattered on the inside where nobody could see. He couldn't see it, most of the time he ignored it, but he felt it. He just wanted it to go away and stop killing him slowly, but the only way it would go away was if she came back…and that would never happen.

"Alex...help me, please...I'm begging you, I can't do this on my own..."

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_**A/N: Thanks for reading!**_


	9. Night

_**A/N: Hi huns! Sorry for the delay in uploading, school's hectic!**_

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It was dark again, that meant it was night again; the people from ShinRa were leaving in the morning. Many of the recruits had already pulled out of the exchange deal with ShinRa after Sephiroth's surprise visit. Maybe that was a good thing in the end though. If they had pulled out based on a small confrontation, such as the one in the assembly hall, then what good could they have been in an actual full-on battle? Only the people who were certain they could be of use should agree to go. Anyone else would just become a hazard to themselves and those around them.

She was not going to pull out. She hadn't even considered doing so. She had only known about the transfer option with the last day or two, since speaking to Cid and Tseng, but she had been certain of her own feelings towards it from the start. She was going to Edge. She would help to the best of her ability in the field and as a technician. She also wasn't going to pull out now, not when her Dad had returned to ShinRa too. She wanted to get to know him better, sure it sounded odd even in her head, but she knew his name, his rank, how old he was, where he had lived and that he was her Dad, but she didn't know_**him**_.

Christi sat up slowly, growing rather bored with staring at the mundane hue of her dorm's ceiling. How had she even gotten to her bed? She didn't remember lying down or anything; the last thing she remembered was being really tired and talking to her Dad. Which brought something else to her attention; where was he? Another few seconds of silent staring passed before the youngster shook her head lightly and stood from her bed, taking a moment or two to stare at her reflection in the mirror before cursing Loz yet again. Angry red scratches marred her left cheek from when she had struck the glass-covered floor of the assembly hall thanks to Loz yanking back on her ankle.

She should really go find out how everyone else was and see what was going on. Everyone had been at the infirmary when she'd done her disappearing act. Judging by her bedside clock, that had been several hours ago, which meant everyone had more than likely been treated for the injuries by now and moved to another area in the Garden. She just did not know where and it was now after curfew so if Aki were around then he would not hesitate to sanction her for being out of her dorm. He always seemed to have it out for her, for what reason she honestly didn't have a clue. She'd never actually done anything to justify the Instructors evident dislike towards her.

Christi shook her head again as she slipped on her sneakers, not bothering to open the lacers, before grabbing her belt from her locker; making sure to bring with handguns with her this time around. She'd already made the mistake of leaving them behind, as shown by the painful scrapes on her cheek and cuts on her hands. Okay, it wasn't likely that Sephiroth or any of the three remnants would pay another visit to the Garden any time soon, hopefully ever again. But still, she'd learned her lesson for being careless already; she wasn't in a rush to leave them behind again. In addition, they were somewhat of a comfort too; she'd taken the two holsters from their dull Garden-issued belt and replaced them on one of her own studded belts. It looked better that way and it felt more comfortable, she knew that sounded odd, but so what? They were hers, so it was her decision too.

A quick glance up and down the corridor outside before she stepped out of her dorm; ensuring that Aki wasn't snooping around, ready to pounce on her and lash on the punishments. Anyone else would be concerned with whether or not the younger cadets were alright or not after the surprise attack on the Garden, but not Aki, he was still looking for students to persecute regardless. She just wanted to find the gang she'd been with before going back to her dorm. Christi hit the light switch as she finally walked out into the corridor, she wanted to find everyone else without any more drama; she wanted Seifer. She didn't know why, but she felt safe around him, he could be a bully to others at times, she knew that, but he never tried to push her around or treat her bad. They had started out as friends and had developed into a relationship, he was her boyfriend, one of her closest friends, and right now, she just needed a friend.

* * *

_"Oh Genesis…everyone else has changed, why won't you? Stop keeping everyone else at arms' length and talk to Angeal, the two of you were always good at scheming when we were little…"_

Why did he always insist on doing things his way and by himself? Why did he always stick to his ways when they so obviously didn't work sometimes? Because he was stubborn and arrogant, that's why. He always had been. That had been the source of their constant bickering when they'd been kids, she had been a strong-headed tomboy from a middle class family; her mother had been a housewife while her father had worked as a translator for ShinRa, while he had been the stubborn an arrogant son of the Mayor. It was ironic that they had ended up together really.

Poor Angeal had been charged with the role of referee between her and Genesis. He had been the one to break up the bickering and stop one from taking it too far. He had been the one to trick them both into going out on an official date after meeting again in ShinRa. He had been the one to cover for her and Genesis when they had gone on random disappearances. Angeal had moved on, she had watched. He hadn't run from the reality as Genesis had. Granted, nothing had frustrated her more than knowing their daughter had been safe but hidden away behind a veil of lies. She had watched Genesis mourn for both her and Christi. He should not have had to.

* * *

"This could have gone better…"

Rufus shook his head as he turned away from the open door of the damaged assembly hall. 'Could have gone better' was an understatement. They had come to recruit promising young men and women in a hope of finally putting an end to the hell-like limbo of Gaia. Not to draw their enemy upon a school of recruits with ages raging all the way up from five. Now Genesis was nowhere to be seen or that girl either. He needed to be filled in properly on what had happened there.

Tseng had pulled him aside before entering the assembly hall, informing him of Christi and what his father had told Balamb Garden. That's when he had realised the girl was in the hall along with Genesis and Angeal. In an ideal world they would have taken both parties aside and explained the situation before apologizing profusely and reuniting them. However, Gaia was far from an ideal world. By the time, he and Tseng had entered the assembly hall, the deafening silence and thick tension had told them they'd been that tiny bit too late.

Now Genesis had preformed one of his fabled disappearing acts a few hours ago, he had no doubt that Angeal knew where his friend had gone, but having Genesis back on their side and also showed him that the two stayed loyal to their friendship first and their roles as SOLDIERs second. ShinRa would have to pay for the repairs to the Garden. The headmaster had already refused to allow ShinRa to do so, but that was beside the point. Sephiroth had followed them here, it was their fault Balamb had been damaged and therefore their responsibility to repair.

So far, most of the cadets applicable for the transfer between ShinRa and Balamb Garden had pulled out. Rufus would have lied if he'd said he hadn't expected such. Especially considering the age range of the cadets. Sephiroth may have actually done him a favour in attacking here. He had given the younger cadets and less experienced ones a taste of what real battle was like. Some evidently hadn't expected it to be so full-on and had pulled out. At least it meant he would only have the reliable cadets transferring.

"Could have gone worse too."

Rufus turned, curious as to who had spoken. It was a girl's voice, but he hadn't heard anyone behind him. Then again, he had been lost in is own thoughts…Sephiroth could have probably walked up behind him without him noticing. The CEO fought back the urge to blink in surprise as his trademark blue eyes fell upon the figure of a young woman. A smile of bemusement made its way to his lips as he watched her bend around his figure, looking into the damaged assembly hall.

"How do you mean?"

Christi stifled a yawn as she bent her hips one way and her torso the other in order to glance around the ShinRa president. The hall was in a state, rubble covered the ground, along with parts of the bleachers and shards of glass. A large plastic tarpon - borrowed from the Garden's Festival Committee - to cover the gaping hole now in the far wall, it did little to protect the Garden, but it would stop the outside elements from furthering any damage. But it was just an assembly hall at the end of the day. None of the younger cadets had been harmed, neither had any of the infants ShinRa had brought with them. Christi shrugged as she pointed in through the open door before looking back to the company President.

"See all that? That's bricks, cement and glass, it can be easily fixed. You're little boy couldn't be fixed that easily if he had gotten hurt earlier."

She had a point, a poignant one. He hadn't thought about it that way. It hadn't been the most desired welcoming party, but it was time to get over it and move on. If anything good could be taken from Sephiroth's constant presence in Gaia, it was how he had forced them all to realise just how idiotic it was to waste time. If they wasted time now, it could be taken away from then just as fast. He and Charleese had wasted time, getting together and breaking up again, he'd hesitated in proposing, not knowing how to feel about being completely committed to something for once in his life. Now look, she was gone. Sephiroth's brothers had taken her away. His own father had deprived Genesis of years with his daughter; the young woman standing before him now.

"Christi - are they going to come back again?"

Christi spun, as a little girl's voice echoed feebly through the empty corridor. Tanned skin, dark brown hair and piercing jade eyes...Leera. Christi smiled as she crouched down the young girl's level to speak to her. Leera was one of the newest cadets in the Garden. She was only six, both her parents had died when she was a baby; she'd been in an orphanage up until a few months ago when Cid had offered her a place in Balamb Garden. She may only be six, but her analytical skills were already more than evident. Christi stalled for a second, wondering whether she should tell the young girl a little while lie before discarding the idea and going with the truth.

"I don't know pet, hopefully not. But let's talk about the real situation…what are you doing up out of bed after curfew? Especially with Aki on the prowl."

Leera didn't answer; she instead looked past Christi and watched Rufus. Her expression staying the same as she voiced her next question.

"Who is he?"

Christi frowned as Leera blatantly ignored her question. She was a highly intelligent girl for her age, but was used to getting her own way in the Orphanage. Christi had been appointed her prefect, along with dozen or so other kids. It was her job to keep an eye on them all and ensure they weren't having any problems with other cadets or Instructors. It was also her job to be a big sister to those kids and ensure that they adjusted to being part of a team now as opposed to a singular unit.

"Leera, I asked you a question, please answer it."

"Why?"

"Because I am a senior cadet and you're not."

Christi held the little girl's stare, still smiling despite having spoken seriously. She loved Leera to bits, all her charges were the equivalent of younger brothers and sisters to her, but Leera needed to learn that being in Balamb Garden came with it's own regulations too. She had to learn to respect and act upon the orders of her superiors. She already showed a lot of potential, her analytical skills rivalled even qualified SeeDs; she would make an undeniable asset to the Garden when she qualified as a SeeD.

"Retaining the same base location after a direct hit is not ideal. It contradicts what Instructor Xu taught us."

She may have chosen words far more mature than her age, but they did not hide the little girl that she was. Christi smiled again as she picked Leera up, holding the little girl against her chest. She was scared that Sephiroth and the Remnants would come back when she was asleep. She only knew a little of Leera's past, but so far the girl had not had the brightest of backgrounds. Coming here was supposed to make her feel safe and nurture her skills, not scare her.

"C'mere sweetie, Headmaster Cid knows that. That's why all the Instructors and SeeDs are here now. Now c'mon, back to bed. Umm…"

Christi broke off as she realised Rufus was still standing watching. If walked in Aki with Leera in her arms, she would be given a lecture and he would complain to Cid. He would make out that she was a bad influence on her charges, which she most certainly was not. Then again, if she had the visiting President of ShinRa with her and ran into Aki, he would be less likely to start an argument or reprimand her…

"Would you mind walking with me?"

* * *

The man he was now, was nothing compared to the man he had been all those years ago. Back then he would have noticed her presence already, she would never have gotten as close as she was now. Watching him. She had spent years trying to track him down. Following leads and meeting dead ends. But never once giving up. She could not give up; she needed her revenge...her vengeance. Alex had been a close friend of hers, but she was gone too.

That severed the close tie between her and Genesis, leaving one of just work colleagues. In an ideal world that removed any reasons for guilt. What she had gone through…it was his fault. All the years she had spent focusing on the day she would be allowed her revenge would pay off today. Her breathing slowed as her hand silently closed around the hilt of her waist-sheathed sword…

"So, this is where you are."

Her chance was gone. Her hand slowly slid back away from the hilt of her blade. Years had past, days more would not matter. It could wait. That way she would have time to learn who this young woman was. Also, why he had chosen to return to SOLDIER after so long.

Angeal hesitated as his eyes locked onto the small plaque set into one of the stones. A few of the names rang distant bells, but one stared straight back at him, Alexis Yamamoto. In hindsight, he should have guessed Genesis would have come here. It was the logical thing to do. This was something Genesis should have done a long time ago. Maybe now things could move on. He still had Christi. She gave him something to fight for; he had seen that during Sephiroth's attack. Genesis had put his all into fighting Sephiroth, something he hadn't expected to see after his reluctance to help in the first place.

Angeal tore his eyes away from the small yet significant plaque, if he stared at it too long; he would start thinking and reminiscing. That would not help any matters right now. Most of the cadets had refused the transfer, but a few had agreed. Those few needed to be brought up to date with ShinRa's current intentions and future possibilities. They also needed to be reminded of the capabilities of their adversaries and introduced to ShinRa personnel and operation codes.

"We're leaving in the morning; you should speak to the Headmaster."

* * *

Rufus remained silent as he watched Christi pulled the door shut behind her, having brought the little back into what he assumed was a dorm. He had considered following the pair inside but had thought better of it. The little girl - Leera - had surprised him. The only other young girl he had known around her age had been Marlene when she'd been younger. Marlene possessed insatiable curiosity and intuition far beyond her years. Nevertheless, Leera had really thrown him. She spoke like a technician and viewed things with the same outlook. Maybe he had misjudged the calibre of Balamb Garden. With ShinRa, he was accustomed to seeing youngsters expressing promising attributes, but never a five or six year old.

"How old is she?"

Christi shrugged as she ensured no Instructors were lurking around the corner of the corridor. Hopefully being with Rufus would stop her getting into trouble, but she still wanted to avoid running into Aki if she could avoid it.

"Leera? She's six, she's only been here a few months. Before then she'd been in an Orphanage."

That seemed to be a running trend with the cadets in Balamb Garden. Orphans. Maybe that's why they seemed to possess untouched potential. Their views on humanity and matters seemed to be unbiased. Could that have been caused by growing up in a world devoid of a family structure? Did the lack of loving parents stop them from developing personal views towards the world around them? He wasn't sure, it definitely brought up several good points, but right now wasn't the time to debate the whole 'Nurture vs. Nature' topic.

"She's young to show such promise."

Christi nodded. She definitely was, which was why Cid had been so adamant for her to become a cadet at the Garden. Her potential had been going to waste in the Orphanage. Right now she was under Instructor Xu, Xu had been ordered to work more closely with Leera than some of the other younger cadets; playing games and other activities which Leera saw as fun but unknowingly nurtured her gift.

"Her parents were killed by Dollet forces when she was four. She spent two years at an Orphanage before Cid found her and offered her a place in Balamb Garden. We don't know what else she's seen before the Orphanage. Whatever she's seen, she refuses to talk about. She won't interact with the cadets her own age."

She was being extremely co-operative and friendly towards him. He had expected some hostility. Why wasn't she angry at him? He was the President of ShinRa. ShinRa had been responsible for her being here. It was their fault that she had been led to believe her father had abandoned her. It was their fault that Genesis had been led to believe his daughter had died. And yet here she was walking through corridors with him, answering whatever he asked in a pleasant tone and not holding the slightest of grudges. Rufus kept in pace with the young woman as he voiced his query, unable to keep himself silent for any longer.

"Why aren't you angry?"

Christi was stopped from answering as her locket fell from around her neck, as if the clasp had been undone. She had thought she'd closed it properly, she was certain she had. She watched on as the locket opened and skidded along the floor from an unknown force. Only stopping as it came to Rufus' feet. The ShinRa president bent down slowly, as confused as Christi, and picked up the small locket. He felt himself falter somewhat as his eyes locked onto the small picture inside. He recognized Genesis immediately, it took a few seconds for him to recognise Alex and even longer to notice Genesis' hand on her hip and a little girl in his arms.

"I'll take that."

And then the locket was gone. Yanked from his hand. Rufus looked up to see a red-coated figure walking away from him, coming to a stop behind Christi and tying the locket back in place around her neck. Christi just smiled.

"I am. Just not at you.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading ^_^**_


	10. Visitor

_**A/N: Sorry for the long delay...school...boxing...work...family bereavement...supposed studying...sleep XP**_

* * *

"I've read his file. He tends to act before thinking the situation through, but still promising."

Genesis snapped his eyes away from Christi and one of the older cadets, only then realising he had been staring straight at them. He was the guy who had almost knocked him over. And the one who had come down from the bleachers to stand behind Christi when he had been questionaing her about Alex's chains. It also looked like he was more than a fellow student. But who was he to judge? He could still be standing in a graveyard, mourning his wife and daughter; ignoring the world around him as it was torn apart.

Christi was eighteen, he and Alex had not been much older than her when she had been born. He would read the blond guy's file later on, maybe on the way back to Edge. Just to inform himself better. From first glimpse, he was roughly six foot, possibly a little more, had a solid frame and a noticeable scar running across his forehead and nose. Genesis wondered how a person so young could gain such prominant injuries. He had trained and worked under SOLDIER for most of his teenage years, he'd been involved in more fights than he'd cared to count. He was sure ShinRa had them on file somewhere, but that was beside the point. Genesis knew what injuries he had picked up along the road of SOLDIER, none of them were as black and white as the young man's scar.

Maybe it stood testiment to the training level of the cadets at Balamb Garden. He found himself thinking back to the two cadets who had greeted them and led them into the Garden, the girl had been wearing an eye-patch over one of her eyes. Genesis looked over the canteen quickly, spotting another young cadet with a facial scar, almost mirroring the one on Christi's boyfriend.

* * *

"You decided to make a reappearance?"

Christi startled, jumping forward a little before relaxing agian as an arm drapped around her waist; Seifer. She hadn't meant to disappear for so long, but with her Dad, then falling asleep, running into Rufus and then finding Rufus, she had lost track of time. She knew it was night again, that meant they were leaving in the morning. She needed to tell him that. She dind't want him to go to Edge just because she did. Of course she would prefer if he came too, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to, she wanted it to be his decision. Christi turned around, Seifer's arm still around her waist, she looked up the inches seperating their heights, suddenly reminded of just how short she was.

"I want to go to Edge."

"I kno-"

"But I don't want you to think you have to go too."

"I wan-"

"And I want you to go."

"So d-"

"But I don't want you to feel you have t-"

When all else fails, go romantic. Seifer smiled inwards as he felt her lips relax against his. He was hardly going to turn around and say he'd changed his mind about going to Edge. He wasn't going to leave her go on her own either. He wasn't willing to lose her to ShinRa or that man. He was her Dad, okay. But he wasn't the person who'd been here all along. It might not have been his fault, but it didn't matter. He wasn't willing to leave her walk away on her own. Seifer pulled back slowly, still smirking as he spoke lowly, acutely aware of the people watching them.

"I'm going Brighteyes, you know that."

Christi smiled, kissing him back before turning back around and leaning against his chest, his arm still around her waist. She looked around the canteen slowly, taking note of the people within. More people in black suits stood around Tseng, she guessed they were Turks too. A smaller group of young men stood nearby Angeal, they wore SOLDIER uniforms also, but coloured a more bluish hue; third class. More were walking back and forth between the different groups, she noticed a two young children with AVALANCHE also. Along with a solitary figure passing the open door of the canteen.

Christi did a double take. There shouldn't be anyone in the corridor. Not unless one of the younger cadets were awake. Christi weighed up her options, most of the newest young cadets were listed under her, if any of them were awake, and Aki caught them, it would come straight back on top of her. Christi groaned, cursing as she slipped out of Seifer's grip, shaking her head as he tried to pull her back.

"Christi, c'mon babe, d'you have to go running around?"

"I have to check on some of my cadets, if they're awake, I'll get the stick over it...won't be long, promise."

Seifer watched his girlfriend slip out the door unnoticed. He shook his head and turned back to the full canteen. He doubted any of the younger cadets were awake, it was pretty late, and they weren't generally that bad when it came to getting up after curfew. Then again, things were still up in a heap after Sephiroth's visit, most of the older cadets had been woken and were now assigned to different watch duties, a few of the younger cadets could have been woken in the process.

* * *

She looked a lot like him. The same coloured hair. The same pale skin. Her eyes were Alex's though. The same slate-grey colour, a slight angle gave away her Wutai blood. But it was the eerie shimmer of her eeys which gave away her SOLDIER blood. She didn't want to do this, but she had been left with no choice.

She shoudln't have been able to get into this school. She had been aware of its' reputation and standing within the combat world; a school, specialising in training and honning the skills of talented youths, vearing them towards the careers of mercenaries. But the Garden's security was currenly recovering from Sephiroth's earlier visit. He was another face she had not seen with year and one she had hoped to never see again.

Alex had been a friend. A close friend. This girl was her daughter, but Alex had died, along with Genesis' conscience. Her friend was dead, therefore so was their friendship. She had no further responsibility to this girl. All ties had been severed years before. She held no bad will towards this girl either, but hurting her would hurt Genesis. She was simply unlucky as to who her father was.

The woman paused, considering what option would be best. Considering the girl's standing as a senior and almost qualified SeeD, people would be fast to react if anything happened to her. She knew the girl was in a relationship with the head of the Garden's Disciplinary Committee, he would be first to know if anything happened to her. She would also need a relatively easy escape route. Both Genesis and Angeal, not to mention Zack and Cloud, would easily sense her Jenova Cells if she stayed around for much longer.

The girl should have been able to sense her cells, certainly from this distance. She could clearly sense the girl's cells. But her lack of experience and SOLDIER-sheltered life at Balamb had stopped her from developing what she may have inherited from Genesis.

* * *

"Rika..."

Christi turned on her heels as a woman's voice whispered in her ear. She had expected to see an instructor or older cadet standing near by, but there was no one else in the corridor. Just her. Rika? She knew that name from somewhere...it rant distant bells of recognition. So did the woman's voice. Christi shook her head, realising how much she'd managed to freak herself out, she was tired, the last twenty four hours had been the most stressful of her whole eighteen years and she was now stressing over going to Edge. There was no one else in the corridor, she'd imagined it...right?

"H-hello?"

Christi frowned, she took a few hesitant steps forward. She stopped, suddenly feeling rather stupid for following voices that were probably only in her head to start with. She felt vulnerable, maybe walking away from the crowd and into an empty corridor hadn't been her brightest of ideas...the SeeD cadet decided against drawing one of her handguns as she began walking back towards the canteen. If she pulled one of her handguns, Instructor Aki was guaranteed to pop around the corner and slam down the punishments, and what good was drawing a weapon against a voice she thought she heard?

* * *

She fell back as the teenager turned around, heading back towards the crowded canteen, it could wait for now. She turned around, intent on heading in the opposite way of the girl, but stopped abruptly as she came face to face with a woman. She knew her, but it wasn't possible; long black tresses, steel grey eyes, tanned skin and a noticably petite frame...Alex.

"Y-"

"Blame Genesis – if your sense of reality is actually **that** warped, Rika. But leave Christi out of your twisted vendetta. I'm warning you."

* * *

**_A/N: I'm sorry if it's short - my laptop is currently three quarters dead, one quarter alive :'( And this is the last update I'll have up for about a month - Leaving Cert...again :'( Wish me luck!_**


	11. Leaving

_**A/N: Hi there guys, sorry for taking forever with this. Anyhow, this is the result of lectures from last week ... as opposed to all the notes I should have been taking ;)**_

* * *

Clothes, shoes, uniform, a few textbooks, photos … Christi paused as her hand skimmed over the creased photo; he had always been there for her. They both had. Cid had been the one thing in her life, to remain constant after the crash. She had vague memories from before the crash; they were there, just broken. But Cid had always been there; drying her tears, celebrating her birthdays, watching her throw tantrums, teaching her a few lessons, always willing to give advice … but she had to go to Edge. She needed to gain her SeeD qualification before she turned twenty. It gave her two more years, but she had already failed it once, leading to her boyfriend failing also.

They all needed to hurry up and qualify; Selphie, Rinoa, Squall, Raijin, Fujin, Seifer, Irvine, Zell and herself. They all had to go, not just for the qualification, but to represent their school and defend its reputation; Sephiroth and his lackeys had attacked their Garden, they couldn't simply turn away and pretend it hadn't happened.

Christi jumped as someone knocked on the open door of her dorm; it was still early, most of the other cadets were still asleep, with only some instructors and senior recruits patrolling the corridors. She turned to explain why she was awake so early, but stopped as Cid smiled back at her.

"All packed up, I see."

"I…I was coming to find you before I left. I wouldn't leave without speaking to you first."

"I know ... I know Christi."

Cid smiled as he sat on the chair in front of Christi's desk, glancing through to her unusually bare bedroom. He had known she would go. From the moment ShinRa contacted him, he'd known. She had always expressed a wish to travel to Edge someday. More recently, she had been using the Garden's data banks to dig up information on Banora. It had taken him a while to connect the dots, but he had figured out that both of Christi's parents had been from the small village.

That was something he hadn't expected, Christi's Dad. Cid had known that there was a probability of ShinRa personnel recognising her. As far as he had known, ShinRa had known exactly where the girl had been all these years, as did her father.

Part of him wanted to be overjoyed with the unexpected turn of events; Christi would get to know her family. She knew she hadn't been abandoned when her mother had died. She would get to know the place she came from … she could go home. However, would there be enough room in her heart for two homes and two families?

Cid blinked as Christi pulled herself up onto the edge of the desk; she certainly wasn't a scared little girl anymore. The headmaster smiled as slight arms slipped around his neck in a loose hug.

"I'm coming home again … this is the only home I know, Cid."

He smiled again, shaking his head as he removed his glasses.

"No, it is the only one that you remember."

Christi frowned, taken aback by her guardian's blunt words. She took a breath to argue, but paused as the man stood and turned to face her; his deep sapphire eyes glistened as he spoke.

"You're eighteen now, I am no longer your guardian, Christi. This is a SeeD assignment, but it also strikes a personal chord for you. I do not want you to disregard your responsibility as a cadet and representative of this Garden, but your personal needs are just as important. Do you understand?"

She nodded slowly, her eyes quickly switching to the carpeted floor of her dorm; he was putting his role as headmaster to the side for a moment; he didn't want her to ignore any personal issues that could arise…she wouldn't, but she wouldn't abandon her responsibilities either. Not only did the assignment count as their field exam, they were all being trusted to uphold the reputation of Balamb Garden.

"I understand, but I need you to understand some things too. I won't ignore my personal stuff, but I won't forget why I'm going to Edge either … let's face it, we all need to pass the field exam this time around - I seriously doubt Seifer'll be happy about having to go for it again if he fails this time."

Cid laughed lightly as he stood from the chair, taking hold of Christi's bag as he steered her towards the door. Seifer was one individual who never failed to both entertain and frustrate him. Seifer and Squall were the only two cadets to choose gun-blades, and though they were both equally skilled, they couldn't stop butting heads for long.

"Keep him in line, Christi … I don't need anyone coming back with more scars."

"I will - he knows his opportunities are limited, he can only apply twice more before he turns twenty - trust me, he won't waste this chance."

He certainly hoped not. Seifer was a talented recruit, if a bit reckless at times. His unpredictable nature had led to the teenager failing the SeeD field exam on several occasions already. He rarely worked well in a group, unless its members consisted of Raijin and Fujin, but a SeeD needed to be flexible and capable of working in any group, not just one that took his fancy.

Christi rolled her eyes as she thought over their past field exams; Seifer wasn't the only one to fail it before now; she had too, twice to be exact. The first time had been the fault of her supervising SeeD, he had placed her in a full-on combat situation, fighting wasn't her strength. She worked particularly well in a group because she could use her analytical skills to come up with a strategy or find a fault in their opponent's armour. She could participate in combat when it came down to it, but it wasn't her strongest skill.

Her second fail was her own fault - she admitted that wholeheartedly. Christi still cringed over the momentous failure of an exam. Not only had she managed to earn herself a fail, she'd also dragged Seifer down with her. She had strayed from the group and fallen into a pit trap, set by enemy forces. She hated enclosed places; Seifer had known that and had ignored the orders of his supervising SeeD to pull her out.

* * *

"What do they know of Sephiroth and the remnants?"

"Public knowledge, along with what they saw yesterday - concerned?"

Genesis ignored Angeal's jibe; of course, he was concerned. They were bringing a group of teenagers into a raging war-zone, a zone even he had stayed well clear of up until yesterday. Sephiroth and his three puppets wouldn't care bout ages. He wouldn't blink or hesitate in killing them.

"They're kids … he won't spare them because of their ages."

Angeal frowned as he followed his friend; keeping his voice low to ensure that none of the airship's personnel overheard them.

"How old were we when we ran off to join SOLDIER? Younger than them. They are not walking into this blindfolded - they've seen what he's capable of and they have already proven their worth in battle."

He paused, knowing that Genesis's concern was rooted to one person in particular, Christi. He was terrified of losing her again, but he would not admit his fears. It was an understandable fear. Angeal had watched his friend fall apart all those years ago; Genesis didn't want Christi to be singled out or punished because of him again. But he needed to give her some credit.

"She is more than capable of looking after herself, Genesis. She's been at this school all along, it specialises in training youngsters as mercenaries; she survived the crash and has worked her way through the years here. If things do go the wrong way, there's always ShinRa, AVALANCE, the WRO, us and her boyfriend to help her."

Her boyfriend … he'd forgotten about him. Genesis rolled his eyes as he thought over what he'd read in the young man's file; arrogant, reckless, unpredictable - not exactly the model example of a cadet, let along boyfriend material. But what right did he have to judge Christi's choice in guys?

"I think it's time to go."

Genesis looked up as Angeal elbowed him, nodding toward the end of the airship's loading ramp, where Christi and the headmaster of the Garden stood. The man had taken care of Christi for fifteen years; Genesis was sure there were things the man wanted to say to her without having an audience.

"Be careful, Christi."

"Do you tell all the cadets that before their field exam, huh?"

Cid smiled as Christi flashed him a smirk, then took her bag from his hand. She knew he didn't. But that was how she dealt with her emotions; she generally laughed them off or ignored them. The headmaster shook his head as he held her chin and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"No, but you're not just any other cadet."

Christi blinked quickly as her eyes began to prick; she wasn't going to cry in front of everyone. All of ShinRa and the other personnel had disappeared into the airship, but she knew some were still glancing out from its glass control deck. The eighteen year old stood on the tips of her toes as she hugged her surrogate father, whispering as she tried not to lose her composure.

"I'll be careful, and I'll be back soon … _love you, Cid_."

* * *

Reeve surveyed the briefing room as he suppressed another yawn; three hours had passed since they had left Balamb Garden. The nine students from the Garden had been allocated rooms and had been formally introduced to everyone from Edge. That had taken almost an hour; they had all been stuck in the briefing room since then.

He took no joy in keeping everyone confined for such a lengthy period, but strategies had needed discussion and the cadets had needed to be brought up to speed with everything, Genesis also. They could recruit all the help they wanted, none of it would make a difference if they didn't figure out where Sephiroth was basing himself, or what their next move would be. They could discuss possible moves when they arrived back at the ShinRa headquarters in Edge, for now he just wanted the nine students to familiarise themselves with what they could be facing.

"These files contain all the relevant information you will need. You will know some of the information already, but there are also details that have not been released to the public. This isn't an order or a school assignment, but I would suggest you make yourselves familiar with the basics at least … I thought there were four girls?"

Numerous heads turned to face the Balamb Garden cadets, with the cadets quickly glancing amongst themselves. Seifer groaned and ran a hand over his face as he realised which girl was missing. She had been standing right next to him, how had he not noticed her disappearing? Christi had an unnatural skill of going missing during lectures and speeches, but he'd thought she'd stick around for this; she was the one who'd been adamant about taking the opportunity to work with ShinRa.

Seifer took the remaining file from Reeve's hand and turned for the door, already hazarding a guess as to where his girlfriend had escaped to.

"I think I know where she is."

"Shouldn't you have offered to do that?"

Genesis barely shook his head as he watched the blond leave. He hadn't even noticed Christi leaving either. It wasn't his place to go running after her. He might not think much of the young man, but regardless of that, Seifer knew her a lot better than he did. He wasn't about to put himself in the middle, claiming to have more of a right to care for her than the cadet did.

"You're one step forward, and three backwards, you know that?"

"_What?_"

He'd said that louder than he'd meant to, Genesis cringed as several heads turned to see what was going on. The SOLDIER glanced back down to his own file and waited until everyone's attention had switched back to Reeve before turning back to his friend. Angeal's smile only served to darken his mood further as he spoke in a whisper.

"Not funny. I feel like I'm back in school, you always did get me into trouble."

"You always got back out of it. After all, you were the Mayor's son - you could do no wrong."

"It never stopped you from trying - what did you mean?"

Angeal hid his smirk behind the sheet he'd been reading; for an intelligent person, Genesis could be rather slow at times. He took one step forward and about three backwards. Christi was alive, she was healthy and she had managed to work her way through a well-renowned mercenary-training school. But Genesis was still backing away.

"She's your daughter."

"And I've been no father to her."

Genesis held his friend's stare, purposely getting his point across. He was Christi's father, but he hadn't been the man to hold her as she'd cried or comfort her all these years. He had done that job up until she had turned three, then another man had taken over that role. He didn't hold that against Balamb Garden's Headmaster, if anything he was grateful to the man. But he was naïve to think he could stroll back into being a parent.

"Is that your fault? You remember how things were before the crash, right?"

Without a doubt, he remembered. He had spent many nights being tormented by the memories of life prior to Alex's death. He had hoped it had all been a horrible nightmare at first, but the nightmare hadn't lifted, not until yesterday. Not until some clueless blond had landed two chains at his feet.

"Of course."

"Then that's all that matters."

* * *

"You're some kid for disappearing acts … too crowded, huh?"

Christi nodded her head shallowly as her boyfriend sat down along side her. Her attention remained riveted to the passing clouds outside; the control deck of the Shera had offered a false sense of space, with its glass-panelled front. False or not, it was a hundred times better than the windowless briefing room she'd managed to escape from. There had been too many people in the small room, it had been uncomfortable and then her head had started to spin and ache.

"Just a bit - sorry."

"Don't be."

She didn't do well in confined spaces, Seifer knew that and he knew why she freaked out. It wasn't just a small phobia, like the other girls being scared of large spiders; Christi was genuinely terrified of being trapped somewhere. Things had been like that since they'd been kids. He'd used it against her when they'd been kids, as had the other younger cadets.

That was how he'd figured out just how scared she was. Some of the other girl cadets had pushed her into one of the Garden's bathrooms and held the door closed. He'd been passing by when he'd noticed the giggling group of girls, he'd put two and two together, knowing Christi had had several run-ins with the girls…she'd been sitting in the corner of the room, her knees drawn up and her hands over her head; face pale and eyes wide, with tears streaked down her cheeks and her whole frame shaking.

"Did I miss much?"

Seifer shook his head as Christi leaned her head against his chest, interrupting his thoughts.

"Not really, Reeve gave out some files with more information - here."

Christi took the file form her boyfriend, leafing through it idly before standing up, dragging Seifer's taller frame with her. Over three hours had passed since they'd left Balamb Garden and it looked like at least another three would pass before they were even close to Edge. She, for one, hadn't bothered with grabbing a breakfast before leaving.

"I'll look at it later, I'm starving - any clue where we can find food on this airship."

"Down by the briefing room we're supposed to be in … what? I noticed it when we were going in - you're not the only one who skipped breakfast."

It was all the eighteen-year-old could do not to laugh; Seifer never skipped meals, she usually ended up stealing some of his. Things had been up in a heap this morning though. She hadn't intended on skipping breakfast, but then Cid had appeared in her dorm and then it had been time to go. The last two days had passed in a complete blur. The Turks appearing, then ShinRa with Angeal and her Dad … and now she was going to Edge.

Midgar had been destroyed years ago, only its shell remained standing. Regardless of its dilapidated state, she still wanted to go there. She wanted to stroll around its deserted shell and imagine what it had looked like when they'd all lived there; her Dad, her Mom and her. Christi couldn't remember anything from before the crash, only some vague faces and voices, but she wanted to see where she'd once lived … she wanted to visit her mother's grave.

"_**Ahh!**_"

Christi cringed as the dull ache in her head suddenly roared into life. Her hands shot to her head as she clamped her eyes shut.

Seifer wrapped one of his arms around his girlfriend's shoulders as she swayed dangerously. He his eyes on her as several people passed them, he recognised a few from the briefing room, Reeve must have finished his talk with them. He knew she got headaches, but there weren't usually this bad.

"Christi?"

She could barely hear him over the ringing in her ears; her stomach knotted itself as a sharp pain shot through her head. She fought to keep the tears from falling, but there was little she could do to stop them. Images shot through her mind as she struggled to keep standing; _Rubble … Sephiroth … Kadaj, Loz, Yazoo …_

"Christi, answer me!"

Christi shook her head as she sank to the floor of the corridor, only vaguely aware of Seifer's arms around her and numerous other voices - why wouldn't it go away? Why wouldn't they all go away, more images raced through her mind as the teenager tried to shake herself free from their grip: _troops with guns … another silver-haired SOLDIER … people running … ShinRa Headquarters ... _ Someone's hand grabbed her chin and wrenched it upwards, forcing her to open her eyes.

"Tell me what you saw."

The white-hot pain in her head remained constant as she tried to look away from Vincent, but he wasn't leaving her go. His red eyes remained calm as they held her confused and glassy gaze. Christi cringed as she spoke, fighting against the ringing in her ears and how distanced everyone's voices seemed to be getting.

"Th-they're going to attack the headquarters."

Balance abandoned her as the ringing reached its crescendo, blocking every other noise out. Christi fought to keep her eyes open, but gave up as they rolled back and darkness took hold.

* * *

**_A/N: Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon, maybe in the next few days - let me know what you guys thought :)_**


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